Ice hockey: One big call to make and it's looming large

 

Somewhere in the depths of lockdown, I stumbled across a quote in a story on our Government’s handling of the pandemic.

It said, the job of a leader is to lead - and not leave people to try to work out what they’re meant to do. Or words to that effect.

I sense that’s exactly the position the EIHL finds itself in as it tries to plot a clear path to starting the 2020-21 season.

The optimism which greeted news of the Magic-5 weekend at Nottingham vanished months ago. Right now, few fans would stick any money on the season even starting.

The league’s update this week stretched to just two lines which said, well, nothing really.

They’d met. They’d talked. They’d make an announcement on September 15. That was it.

The league has said little to instil confidence among fans. Almost all of its summer PR has been built on looking back, rather than ahead where the picture is has zero clarity.

So, fans are left to dissect individual statements from leading lights, to weigh up their thoughts and then try to read between the lines.

But with the calendar flicking over to September, it isn’t looking remotely hopeful.

The signing announcements have pretty much dried up, and the majority of teams appear to have simply gone mute. 

September 15 is now the confirmed date for the it’s on/it’s off decision - one which may re-shape the sport for some time to come.

When guys such as Todd Kelman and Gareth Chalmers start floating the idea of a January or even February start, you get an inkling that the puck won’t be dropping this side of Christmas. 

The overall message is that, no matter what is announced on the 15th, all ten teams are committed to the 2021-22 campaign.

Only problem is, we’ve not heard a peep from a core of them. Fife, Nottingham, Guildford and Belfast have offered little, or zero, insight into their current thinking - and,  right now,  September 2021 is a hell of a long way down the road.

The sport feels stuck. It has to deal with conflicting, often muddled guidance from four devolved governments, it faces the possibility of restrictions on attendance switch could make it unviable, and it  is entirely at the mercy of localised lockdowns with less then 24 hours notice.

Planet Ice’s announcement that it was closing its Altrincham rink - home of Manchester Storm - until further notice, because of a spike in local numbers, perfectly illustrated how problematic running a season could be. 

September 15 will at least draw a line in the sand. It’s either game on, or hibernate for a year to minimise costs, and emerge blinking into a new, very different world next autumn.

The only other possibility would be a mini league, possibly with no, or few imports, playing almost adhoc games?

Such a set up would take the sport back to its war-time era when the league went into abeyance, but clubs laced up whenever they could and took on visiting teams, mainly made up of soldiers from touring military companies.

If you drew ice hockey’s lineage on a graph it’d resemble a mountain range - the highs of pre-war, the Heineken era and the BNL and then EIHL and then the lows when regional leagues folded, ice shows commandeered rinks, and the sport returned to its grassroots.

Over those decades, teams have folded or mothballed, rinks have closed, and shiny new franchises have failed to stand the test of time. I guess, old-time hockey fans have seen all these peaks and troughs already. This sport and stability have always been awkward bedfellows.

For all everyone wants - and needs - foundations which offer a sense of normality,  it’s increasingly difficult to see how the EIHL can signal it’s game on and roll into a full season of competition. 

It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings, they say. Right now she's standing with the mic in her hand, ready to hit her first note...