Hockey Winnipeg won't drop the puck on remaining season

Hockey Winnipeg is throwing in the towel on the fleeting chance it can resumeregular season play.

The association governing amateur hockey in Winnipeg announcedSaturday it made the difficult decision to cancel the remainder of the 2020-21 regular hockey season andplayoffs.

Executive director Ian McArtonarguedit is no longer feasible to ice a season, even if pandemic restrictions loosen to the extent that organized sports are permitted again.

At that time,individual hockey associations will be able tooperate local programming such as practices, but nosanctioned games.

"This is really hard becauseyou see how much everyoneloves the game," McArton said.

"We'vegot passionate coaches and players and administrators and everything, but, you know, we're at the mercy of the provincial guidelines and I understand why," he said. "This is too bad."

Hockey iced since November

The directive affects every league operatedby Hockey Winnipeg, except for the U-15AAA boys' teams playingin a provincially run league.

Organized hockey is one ofmany casualties inthe pandemic.

All games were cancelled when Winnipeg, and later Manitoba, wereput under strict code red restrictions in early November, as the number of COVID-19 infections soared.

The province may relax restrictions on recreational activities onFeb. 13 at the earliest.

McArton said booking the required ice time for some 300 teams isn't practical as the winter wears on. Some rinks are converted for spring and summer sports, while other arenasrely on natural ice so they cannot extend the season.

"This was a hard decision," he said."All of our people that are involved in our executive are hockey people."

McArtonsayshe feels terriblefor the players, especially those whose final year of minor hockey is ending prematurely.

"I don't know if there's anything I can say that wouldfully expresshowmuch we regret everything that's happened," he said.

"I really hope that the kids are able to to get on the ice, evenfor a practice."

Hockey Winnipeg said in an email to parents that it will offer "fair refunds" to its members based on the amount of hockey played before the lockdown and the practices that may occur afterwards. Some expenses, such as tryout fees and player insurance, are non-refundable.

Several other hockey associations in Manitoba have also pulled the plug on their seasons, including Eastman and Interlake.