SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — It will be all Nova Scotia all the time for the Summerside Western Capitals early in the 2020-21 Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) season.
The Capitals, who are members of the Eastlink North Division, will play their first 12 of 40 regular-season games against teams in the Eastlink South Division to avoid the team having to travel into New Brunswick as that province works to get an outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic under control. The Caps will play the six Nova Scotia teams once home and once on the road.
“The league strategically had us play our Nova Scotia games the first six weeks of the season,” said Caps general manager Pat McIver. “We are just happy to get going and the team is ready.”
The Caps’ opener is at Eastlink Arena against the Berwick-based Valley Wildcats on Nov. 7, at 7 p.m. They will close out the regular season at home against the Grand Falls Rapids on March 27.
The Caps’ first game against a New Brunswick team is at the Edmundston Blizzard on Dec. 19.
Head coach Billy McGuigan is not going to lose sleep over the quirky schedule. He said the most important thing is the opportunity to play meaningful games.
“At the end of the day, we are dealing with circumstances we have never seen before with COVID,” said McGuigan. “I feel we are pretty safe in Atlantic Canada and we are taking all the precautions we need. We have masks and there is more hand sanitizer around here than you would find at Wal-Mart.”
The Capitals will play eight back-to-back games during the season, but one noticeable difference is there are no three games in three nights scheduled. The Caps will play three games in four days just once.
“Three in three is a grind, so to see that eliminated a bit and cut down is good for us," said McGuigan.
All 12 teams will qualify for the post-season. The playoff format will be announced at a later date.
Thank You Week
The Maritime Junior Hockey League has designated the opening week of the 2020-21 regular season as Thank You Week.
This initiative, which is sponsored by Honda Atlantic, will pay tribute to the front-line workers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Teams will wear specially-designed “Thank You” jerseys for during their home openers. The teams will then auction off the jerseys on their Facebook pages. The money raised from the auction will go back to the teams to cover the cost of the uniforms.
The regular season opened on Oct. 30.
MHL’s YouTube video for Thank You Week:
Home Games
Breakdown of Western Capitals’ 20 home games:
- Saturday – 10.
- Thursday – 8.
- Sunday – 1.
- Monday – 1.