Hockey Committee mulls safety protocol worries
Lack of uniformity among facilities causing concern
While reports from individual districts were generally positive, the difficulties in adhering to safety protocols were a source of consternation among members at Thursday’s MIAA Ice Hockey Committee meeting.
In particular, maintaining social distancing on team benches and adapting to a variety of different policies from venue to venue have proved to be a challenge in the early weeks of the season.
“The biggest frustration is facilities,” said Hull athletic director Scott Paine. “There is such a vast difference in facilities and they are all run so differently that it’s hard for the coaches and players to follow these rules at this facility and then travel and it’s a totally different set-up. It’s kind of all over the map.”
Paine and Wellesley athletic director John Brown also expressed concerns about the optics of players crowded together on benches, especially with many games being streamed live this winter.
The committee resolved to draft a memo of bullet points to be sent to all hockey-playing schools to remind them of the protocols and provide suggestions on enforcement.
“We knew coming into this that we are dealing with outside facilities and rink managers that are not part of your school system and it was going to be somewhat challenging to address all the concerns we had as an association regarding playing,” said
Arlington Catholic athletic director and coach Dan Shine. “But I would like to note that the kids are trying to do the right thing, for the most part. They are much more flexible than we are as adults.”
Shine also voiced his displeasure about players being forced to dress in the parking lot, feeling it was unsafe from
a health standpoint, and said that he would like to see the no-scrum rules clarified for referees and applied more consistently.
In other business, two subcommittees were formed. The first will look at the changes that need to be made to the tournament format language before the new statewide tournament begins in the 2021-22 season.
The second group will help form a recommendation to the Tournament Management Committee regarding the future of the Div. 1A boys tournament, commonly known as the Super 8, and the possibility of a Div. 1A girls tournament.
There was brief discussion of whether or not the Super 8 is still necessary as the gap appears to have closed some between Catholic school programs, which were the overwhelmingly dominant forces when the tourney was initiated in 1991, and the top publics.
Shine made the point that over the years the 1A tourney has helped elevate public squads as they sought tougher competition to show they belonged with the Catholics in the Super 8. Framingham AD Paul Spear said that the field has been leveled by the proliferation of Catholic programs losing star players to prep schools and junior hockey early in their careers.
Shine also enumerated how many changes the tournament has gone through since its inception, when all games were played at the Boston Garden. Contests were moved to smaller local venues last year, which Paine thought was a success and was echoed by Spear, whose school was a Super 8 participant last winter.
“I’d rather play in a packed arena than in a vacuum,” said Spear.
Spear, one of the coaches’ representatives to the committee, plans to survey the coaches association for input for the subcommittee.
“Maybe 1A isn’t what it once was, maybe it’s not as important as it once was to people,” said Shine. “I think we have to look at the big picture here. It’s a great tournament, the competition is fierce and it’s outstanding hockey, but I’m not sure if it’s something we want or we don’t want.”