Powerhouse team missing another potential Memorial Cup run
EDMONTON — Never mind memorable.
The past year and counting has been more like a waking nightmare that will be hard to forget for an Edmonton Oil Kings team riding the upswing of the notoriously cyclical Western Hockey League pace.
For the second consecutive year, the Canadian Hockey League has opted to cancel the Memorial Cup, its national championship tournament, because of COVID-19. It made no sense to try to hold it because the Ontario Hockey League hasn’t played any games yet while the Western Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League have had several starts and stops.
And while Tuesday’s announcement cuts deep into an Edmonton roster primed to have made another long postseason run, it also comes as absolutely no surprise.
Not with the state of COVID-19 numbers making a resurgence.
“The CHL is committed to the health and safety of our players, their families and billets, our teams, staff and officials, and the communities in which we play,” CHL president Dan MacKenzie said in a press release Tuesday.
“That has driven all of our difficult decisions for the last year as we have dealt with this global pandemic.
“The decision was made based on the limitations on travel, border restrictions, and quarantining requirements that would make it impossible to produce league champions.”
The decision comes at a time when Edmonton currently leads the WHL with a .923 win percentage on the way to a 12-1 record in Central Division play.
“Even if there is no Memorial Cup, for us, we have three 20-year-olds we want to play well because it’s their last year,” Oil Kings head coach Brad Lauer previously told Postmedia News. “We have guys that are draft picks, guys that want to try and get signed and try to go to (NHL) training camp.
“So, there’s lots on the line for us and that’s kind of the motivation we’re using with everybody that even though the season may not be for playoffs or the Memorial Cup, we’re going to try and attach as many things into this season for the players as we can to make it exciting for them.”