‘It’s going to be ... a one-of-a-kind reset’
Petes president Pogue is looking ahead to the 2021-22 season
The 2021-22 Ontario Hockey League season will be like no other, says Peterborough Petes president Dave Pogue.
Provided next season starts on time, it will have been 18 months since the end of the ’1920 season was cancelled due to COVID-19 and all of ’20-21. Players born between 1999 and 2001 will be gone except for some ’01s who return as overage players. Two separate draft classes will enter as rookies. Teams will bear little resemblance to those that last played in March ’20.
“A lot of teams are going to be starting at the exact same spot,” said Pogue. “There are going to be a lot of young teams with a majority of players who may have played a portion of a season going into next year. It’s going to be a very interesting, oneof-a-kind reset.”
It’s time to pivot, he said. All the teams have been impacted financially by the shutdown and the recovery period — as well as reopening a safe environment for players, staff and fans — will be a major challenge.
“We’ll start to turn our focus on how we start and what needs to be done at facilities and getting rosters built up and businesses going again and getting tickets sold again and advertising sold. We’re certainly going to need the support of all those people who supported us in the past more than ever to survive,” he said. “All you can do is surround yourself with the best people you can find and we already have that in the fold. I trust and have confidence in them that they’re going to bring us back.”
The toughest part about Tuesday’s announcement officially cancelling this season, said Pogue, is how close they got to returning. The province approved the OHL’s return-toplay proposal but, on the eve of the league announcing its return, the province went into lockdown as COVID numbers spiked.
“After all the work and effort that’s been put in by the league and government to get the players back on the ice,” said Pogue, “when the reality finally hit we had just run out of runway it was disappointing. For many, it will turn to relief because it’s taken a toll on everybody who has been working hard to make this happen. The mental side of it has created a lot of anxiety not knowing if we were playing.
“We tried and we just couldn’t make it happen. I mean, we were there. The window we thought was open and we were about to climb through closed very quickly with that lockdown.”
Ontario’s situation with variants of concern and the impact they’re having on the younger population meant it wasn’t possible to pull off plans for hub cities., Pogue said.
“We’re just not in a climate where it’s safe,” he said.
There were games played in the QMJHL and WHL and the OHL took some criticism for not doing so. Pogue is not critical of the league.
“Some of the other leagues have had some play but it’s been fragmented. They start. They stop. They have COVID issues. They go to a bubble. They had some real struggles,” said Pogue.
“Our league was looking for a sustainable, uninterrupted, safe season. With what’s been going on in Ontario and what is going on in Ontario, it just wasn’t meant to be.”
Some have also criticized the OHL for the lack of information it revealed while negotiating with the province. Pogue said he would have loved more information but he also understands why the league operated that way.
“It never makes sense to communicate a plan until a plan is in place,” said Pogue. “If you communicate the hope of a plan, what are you really communicating? You’re not communicating anything solid.”