THE COVID YEAR
/photo lisette nepveu
As every year, I take stock of the last season spent together with the highlights of the regular and summer calendars. Normally, this is an exercise I do on Labor Day while the uniforms are drying, that I’m dealing with special requests while shaping the teams that will form the new season. This year is an exception in many regards and it’s in the midst of a second lockdown that I approach this text without quite knowing where I am headed on my keyboard.
If we go back to September 2019, because of the mismanagement of the upgrading of arenas in the greater metropolitan area, we lost our Saturday ice time in favor of minor hockey. So, for the first time in our history, we were going to play on Sunday mornings. In addition, we went from eight to four teams due to the lack of ice time for the Central Division with the Satellite Division retaining its usual 6 pm slot.
photo lisette nepveu
The adjustment was difficult as at the same time the whole dynamic of our weekly meetings changed. On the ice it was hardly visible, but outside, in the locker rooms and in the stands, it was no longer as much fun. We have to admit that apart from certain die-hards, the post-game beers no longer had the same appeal and the idea of staying for hours after your game before heading to the pub with the boys for one of our classic "post-game get togethers" either. No, Sundays with fewer teams on top of it weren't our cup of tea, but that's nothing compared to what 2020 had in store for us.
Not really following the news on a regular basis, I had heard about what was happening in China and subsequently in Italy, and like many others I didn't really care, relegating this news to the miscellaneous. But like a Tsunami, it was without warning that our daily lives were swept aside to give way to desolation and uncertainty.
Having played our first playoff games in our two divisions the previous Sunday, I still remember Thursday March 12 when playing with my team in another league we thought it might be our last game for a while. , without thinking for a second that our season would be canceled altogether. You know the rest of the story and have all lived a spring without much joy, each confined to your home alone or with your family before the provincial government announced at the end of June the reopening of the arenas to everyone's surprise.
It is not worth summarizing the 2020 summer season once again. While putting 10 teams on the ice for a summer fling, unlike other adult leagues, the LFA did not cancel its 2019-2020 season allowing guys registered for the regular season in the Central Division to finish it in August. I invite you to read the following article to find out who won what and more (HERE).
With hindsight, and this well confined to my home, I am sure that all those who took part in the short summer season are very happy to have done so because for the moment the 2020-2021 season has not really been able to take off with only three weeks of play before seeing a new confinement.
when will our next shift on the ice be ?! (photo lisette nepveu)
So the COVID year that does not seem to want to end will have marked us on and off the ice in all aspects of our lives, forcing us to change our plans and adjust our behaviors. We will have proven, however, that it is possible to play hockey safely by following new guidelines, but unfortunately we live in a “marshmallow society” run by “lame farts”; we are therefore once again forced into confinement. The effects of it are often more virulent than those of COVID-19 itself.
Hoping that our summary of the 2020-2021 season can see the light of day and that we can return to play soon.
Courage………..
JFD
