Exploring different ideas

New Brunswick/P.E.I. under-18 hockey boys’ circuit to discuss six-team playoffs

“We’re kind of hoping we can get some games in … and be able to get some scouts in and have the kids develop a little bit more.”

Barry Thompson President of New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island Major Under-18 Hockey League

There will be no Atlantic hockey championships this spring, but there’s still some hope for interprovincial play.

Hockey Canada announced last Friday there would be no national championships, including the Esso Cup, Telus Cup, Centennial Cup and Allan Cup, due to COVID-19.

The Atlantic branches subsequently announced there would be no Atlantic championships.

But Barry Thompson, president of the New Brunswick/Prince Edward Island Major Under-18 Hockey League, said Monday the cancellation of the Atlantics does provide the league an opportunity to play deep into April and possibly

May.

A league meeting will take place either later this week or early next week to come up with a plan for the rest of its season.

“We’re kind of hoping we can get some games in … and be able to get some scouts in and have the kids develop a little bit more,” he said.

One idea that has been floated is to have a full league playoff this season.

Normally, the six teams play a regular season schedule before the Charlottetown Bulk Carriers Knights and Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild meet to determine an Island champ while the four New Brunswick squads play their post-season.

Those two provincial champs head to the Atlantics, along with the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland champs and a host team.

The winner represents the region at the Telus Cup national competition.

“It might be a bit of a different look (this year) but at least it gives the kids something more to look forward to,” Thompson said.

A meeting with representatives of the three under-18 boys’ leagues in Atlantic Canada will take place at the end of the month to see if something else, like a showcase event, could be organized if travel was permitted in the region in the spring.

“We’re bouncing ideas around,” Thompson said.

The provinces that were scheduled to host the Atlantics this year will host the events in 2022.