The SJHL season will not resume this year. (Martin Martinson/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Martin Martinson

return to play rejected

SJHL announces cancellation of 2020-21 season

Mar 23, 2021 | 12:21 PM

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) has announced their proposal for a hub city return to play has been rejected by the Saskatchewan government.

In a release Tuesday morning, the league made the news official, explaining “the current conditions of COVID-19 in the Province of Saskatchewan do not appear to allow a return to play, now or in the next few weeks,” and the 2020-21 season will “not have an ending.”

SJHL President, Bill Chow told battlefordNOW that it is obviously disappointing to not be able to return to play this year, following months of back-and-forth between the league and Sask. Health Authority, working towards a hopeful return.

“It’s been a tug-of-war of hopefully waiting to play—not to play; to play—not to play, and this has gone on for pretty much two years now,” Chow said. “Obviously things haven’t gone the way anyone has wanted them to, but everything is so fluid and changing rapidly, it’s very unpredictable.”

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“A couple weeks ago with where things were at and where we were moving with our submission, I was very optimistic about being able to play this year, but now obviously we aren’t [able to],” Chow said.

When it comes to all the many people involved with the organizations, Chow said he appreciates their hard work and dedication to stick with things this year, to the very end.

“From the players, to the coaches, [and] the volunteers, there’s a lot of people who have put a lot of work and time into hopefully returning to play,” he said. “That effort doesn’t go unnoticed.”

“For the players, I have a lot of empathy for those that didn’t get to play their 20-year-old years, both this year and last year, and hopefully we can get things back to normal come this fall.”

The SJHL season had been put on-hold since Nov. 23, 2020, at which point the league released a statement of their intent to return in the New Year. The 2019-20 postseason was also cancelled March 12, 2020, due to concerns surrounding the beginning of the pandemic.

The Battlefords North Stars played just three games this year, while Melfort played five, Nipawin played six, and La Ronge played five.

Editor’s note: this story was amended to include comment from Bill Chow.

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Martin.Martinson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @MartyMartyPxP1