NOJHL is on ice; OHL is not

This is a statement of fact relative to the coronavirus and two levels of junior hockey in Ontario.

That is, the Northern Ontario Jr. Hockey League does not have to take a lead from the Ontario Hockey League as it pertains to a return to play for the 2020-2021 season.

Because folks, as the OHL will remain in a shutdown until the new year, the majority of the teams in the NOJHL have been on the ice since the middle of September in the form of skills, drills and in-house scrimmages.

Not only that, there has been no reported COVID-19 activity pertaining to the multiple times per week sessions involving the northeastern Ontario based teams of the NOJHL.

So, could this soon mean the beginning of a season in the NOJHL?

Well, as reported earlier by Hockey News North, the recent news that the 12 teams representing the Saskatchewan Jr. Hockey League have been cleared for a return to the playing of games is widely perceived as being good news for the NOJHL.

And as the province of Saskatchewan has relatively few cases of the coronavirus, so too does northeastern Ontario, where 10 of the NOJHL’s 11 teams are located.

(The NOJHL’s 11th entry, the Michigan Soo Eagles, remain affected by the continued closure of the United States/Canada border.)

While no one will say so on the record, the consensus among NOJHL owners, general managers and coaches who I have talked to is that members teams remain rather optimistic that the league will be cleared by the various northeastern Ontario public health units to begin the playing of games by early to mid November.

And as is the case with the aforementioned Saskatchewan Jr. Hockey League — where a maximum of 150 spectators are being allowed in arenas, at least for the time being — the NOJHL also fully expects that some sort of spectator limit will be in place for its teams.

Meanwhile, hard at work behind the scenes is veteran NOJHL commissioner Robert Mazzuca, who is leaving nothing to chance as he converses with public health and government officials.

As every NOJHL team official who I have talked to has firmly stated, the league is being extremely well led and extremely well represented by the sharp, savvy, heedful and attentive Mazzuca as he carefully steers it through the unprecedented times of COVID-19.

And to be sure, it is worth noting that as the majority of NOJHL teams have been holding in-house scrimmages and skill sessions for several weeks now, they have been strictly abiding by safety precautions as set out by the league via public health officials.