Wilson prefers to look to the future, not back
OHL cancellation ends the stress of not knowing, says Petes head coach
Rob Wilson felt a sense of relief when the Ontario Hockey League officially cancelled its 2020-21 season Tuesday.
It’s not that the Peterborough Petes head coach wanted it cancelled. Quite the contrary, but the cloud of uncertainty that has hung over staff and players for 13 months has been tough on everybody.
“The anxiety of not knowing was really high for everybody,” said Wilson. “That wait was long and stressful. People expected this now with the current situation with COVID so I think this will help alleviate the anxiety. It’s not great news but I understand it.”
There seemed to be potential for a season earlier this spring when Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s sports minister, suggested the OHL and province were nearing a return-to-play agreement. In fact, a deal was struck to play games using hub cities but, on the eve of the league announcing its plans, the province plunged into its third lockdown as COVID-19 cases, spurred on by variants of concern, spiked again.
“A few weeks ago I’d have told you I thought we were playing but I’m not surprised,” said Wilson.
The OHL is the only one of the three Canadian Hockey League loops not to play games this season. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and Western Hockey League forged ahead with some games but experienced shutdowns and fragmented schedules.
“I would have hated to be the people who had to make these decisions right now. This is not easy and it’s so easy for everyone to criticize and point fingers. I don’t look at it like that at all. I think the reason it took so long is because people were doing everything they could to get us to play. I really believe that,” said Wilson. “I take my hat off to them because I know how much time they probably put into this. I feel sorry for everybody right now. The players, the coaching staff, the clubs, the fans and the people who had to make these decisions. I think everybody has their best interests at heart. When things started going bad last week, everyone kind of expected this would happen.”
Wilson has renewed excitement about what next season might bring. The league has stated its desire to return to a normal schedule beginning with training camps on Labour Day weekend. While that’s not guaranteed, Wilson believes the rollout of vaccines and warm summer weather, which helped reduce COVID cases last year, offers hope.
“I really believe we’ll be some type of normal here coming up in the fall and hockey will be back and we’ll be back. I’m pretty excited about that,” he said. “We’ll probably start as soon as next week or the week after building our roster and looking at what our needs are going to be now going forward for the next year. I get excited because I really believe that’s what is going to happen, whereas this year there was so much speculation. Nobody knew when we were going to start, if we were going to start, how we were going to start.”
Seeing sports played in other countries gives him hope Ontario won’t be far behind. The absence, he believes, will make the heart grow fonder for all involved when the puck hits the ice again. “I don’t think there will ever be a season as exciting as next season for coaches, players and fans just to be a part of things again. No one could have ever seen this coming and I think the excitement is going to be really, really good.”
He is disappointed for graduating players who won’t get to finish their junior careers just like last year’s players who didn’t get to finish the 2019-20 season. “It’s very sad. My heart goes out to them,” he said.