When the hockey world went dark during the COVID-19 pandemic, Laurie Barron and the Yarmouth Mariners gained a deeper appreciation for the sport.
“I don’t think myself and my players realized how much we missed it until it was gone,” the longtime Mariners head coach and general manager said.
The last game the Mariners played was their 2019-20 regular-season finale on March 7 when they clinched first place in the Maritime Hockey League’s Eastlink South Division for a third consecutive year.
Optimism was high with the Mariners as they headed into the playoffs. But that was deflated when sports leagues – including the MHL – and sporting events were first suspended then cancelled outright due to the pandemic.
As the weeks turned into months following the cancellation, the Maritime league worked toward a restart for the 2020-21 campaign.
In July, the league announced a 52-game schedule starting Oct. 2 but those plans were scuttled by the uncertainty of COVID-19. Last week, the league’s board of governors approved a modified 40-game schedule which starts this Friday on four fronts.
“We’re just excited to be back,” said Barron, whose Mariners open on the road Friday evening against the host South Shore Lumberjacks. “Whatever it took – whether it was 40 games or 50 games – as long as hockey was back, we’re just thrilled.
“At first we thought it would be a regular 52-game schedule. And then there was talk of a 44-game schedule. And then it would be just in Nova Scotia. There were a lot of options.
“The most important thing was that there’s hockey and the kids get a chance to play.”
The league’s two divisions will be broken into mini-divisions to enhance regional rivalries and limit the amount of travel.
In the South Division, Yarmouth, South Shore and the Valley Wildcats will make up one mini-division while the Truro Bearcats, Amherst Ramblers and Pictou County Crushers will consist of the other mini-division.
In the north, the Summerside Western Capitals, Miramichi Timberwolves and Campbellton Tigers will be in one mini-division and the Fredericton Red Wings, Edmundston Blizzard and Grand Falls Rapids in the other.
Teams will play games within their mini-division and division for the next two months. Cross-divisional games between the South and North divisions will not occur until the last week of January.
The lone exception will be the Summerside Western Capitals, who will play their first 12 games against South Division teams to begin the season.
“Sure, we get some early games against Nova Scotia teams but we’re OK with that. We’ll adapt to it,” Summerside head coach Billy McGuigan said. “Anything we can do as a team and a league to get some games under our belt, we’re going to be happy.
“We’re living in different times now with a global pandemic and we’re taking every precaution necessary to get a season going. The Maritimes is probably one of the safest places on the planet, especially Prince Edward Island. The Maritime Hockey League has done a great job in formulating a plan.
“If we can stay COVID-free and continue with this Atlantic bubble, I think we’ll have a good season.”
The regular season will run until March 28 and every team will qualify for the playoffs.
The number of fans permitted into arenas will be drastically reduced and will vary in each of the three provinces.
Barron said about 200 fans attended the Mariners’ first exhibition home game on Oct. 16 and just under 400 were in attendance at the 1,500-seat Mariners Centre last Friday.
What wasn’t missing was a fervor which players generally lack during a pre-season game.
“The two exhibition games we played, the intensity was like a regular season game, even more so,” Barron said.
“Veterans will generally tell me, ‘if you want to sit someone out, I wouldn’t mind sitting out.’ This time, all of my veterans came up to me and said, ‘I want to play, I want to play.’ The guys were so excited to get back and get their sweaters back on.”
Eight games are scheduled this weekend.
Friday’s other matchups include Pictou County at Valley, Edmundston at Fredericton and Grand Falls at Miramichi.
South Shore will visit Yarmouth on Saturday night.
On Sunday, Truro entertains Valley, Miramichi travels to Edmundston and Fredericton is at Grand Falls.
