Sport leagues grapple with cancelled seasons, unclear future

The Fredericton Red Wings took a giant step this season in cementing a new franchise in an already crowded hockey city.

The team clinched a playoff spot and won its last two regular-season games heading into a seven-game series with Summerside. 

It was all going according to team president Roger Shannon's plan.

"It was our first year," Shannon said of the junior A club that moved from St. Stephen for the 2019-20 season. "We built everything towards … making the playoffs in our first year and making a really good effort in the playoffs."

Then, on March 13, the Maritime Junior Hockey League announced it was cancelling the playoffs because of the increasing risk of COVID-19. 

"It's a bit of a momentum killer," Shannon said. "We were for real."

The Wings were "well received" in their inaugural season. More than 1,400 turned out for their final home game at the Grant-Harvey Centre on Fredericton's south side, and Shannon said a sold-out bus was set to travel to Prince Edward Island for Game 1 with the league-leading Capitals.

An extended playoff run could have done wonders to drum up interest in the club. It would have provided some extra gate revenue, too.

Instead, the franchise was forced to lay off its six employees and shift its focus to being able to pay suppliers.

Shannon said when the team returns, it will be like starting at square one.

MHL president Steve Dykeman said it's tough to lose the end of the season but the host communities are supportive.

"In hindsight, I think communities believed we acted in the right way," he said.

Impossible to peg return date

But when the MHL and other regional sports leagues could return to action is a massive unknown hanging over front offices in the region.

Even as the New Brunswick government charts the course to recovery, there's no timeline associated with allowing organized sports or mass gatherings — something that government and league officials say might have to wait until there's a vaccine.

Maxime Blouin, communications director for the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, said the league has "no clue" when or how a return could happen.

"The provincial health agencies will give more details in the upcoming weeks and we might have a better idea then," Blouin said. "But we won't play in empty arenas."

Leagues offices have been creating different scenarios in preparation, but officials have said the situation is too early in the recovery process, which is a fluid situation in itself, to plan anything concrete.

"There's so many unanswered questions and so much speculation because all of this is just so new," said Audley Stephenson, deputy commissioner of the National Basketball League of Canada.

Planning a return is almost impossible. It's complicated by a number of logistical issues beyond, say, when New Brunswick green lights the return of mass gatherings. 

"When the officials say, 'Yes, it's safe to go back,' but then you've got the public perception of when it's safe to go back and those are two entirely different things and the timelines associated with both could be way different as well," Stephenson said.

"That could extend to the players as well. Our players may very well not feel safe and they're well within their rights to make that decision for them."

Border restrictions

Then there's the border issue. 

Government officials have suggested lifting border restrictions will be one of the final acts in the recovery plan. Most leagues operating in the region involve multiple provinces — the MHL is in the Maritimes, add Quebec to that mix for the QMJHL, the Atlantic University Sport is in all of Atlantic Canada and the pro basketball league stretches from St. John's to London, Ont. 

Many of its players come from the United States, adding another wrinkle to the question of player movement across borders.

New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has remained firm on keeping provincial borders closed, but he is considering an exception for Prince Edward Island, which has seen only one new positive case in the past two weeks. The earliest that could happen, he said, would be July.

Stephenson said it's likely a return isn't possible until the final province gives the go-ahead, but league staff are mulling various scenarios, including hosting games in a single venue. 

Losing the season is a tough blow to a league that's had its ups and downs and considerable turnover in franchises in the past decade. Stephenson said it's too early to tell the extent of the damage, but he's hopeful the eight teams will be back.

The jury is still out on whether two clubs on hiatus, Saint John and Cape Breton, will make their comebacks, he said.

In the meantime, Stephenson said they'll continue to heed the advice of the health officials and patiently wait to celebrate the league's 10th anniversary next season. 

Slice of perspective

Even with concerns for the health of the Fredericton franchise, Shannon knows there's a larger health concern at play.

"You deal with the hand you're dealt in life," he said. 

"We're talking about sports. We're talking about business and we're not talking about COVID-19 and families that have lost loved ones. At the end of the day, our problems are miniscule compared to the big picture."