By: Travis Longman
Exciting times are ahead for hockey fans in Southeast Saskatchewan. A recent announcement from the Sask. East Hockey League will see several rivalries renewed. The league, formed earlier this year, sees the Moosomin Rangers and Langenburg Warriors join the Esterhazy Flyers, Rocanvile Tigers, Theodore Buffalos, Canora Cobras, Ituna Avalanche, Hudson Bay Hunters and the Bredenbury Cougars. Recently the Rangers and Warriors had been playing in the North Central Hockey League out of Manitoba, but due to restrictions put in place by the Saskatchewan Government which prohibits interprovincial competition, they now return to Saskatchewan to face some familiar foes.
For cohort purposes, the nine clubs are placed in two divisions. The overall playoff structure will be between all nine teams with the top eight making playoffs. Moosomin, Rocanvile, Langenburg, Esterhazy and Bredenbury will be one cohort while Ituna, Canora, Theodore and Hudson Bay are in the other. League president Mike Stackhouse believes the season will start on November 13th. Most weekends up until the two week Christmas break teams will be playing home-and-home series against teams in their own cohorts. Teams must leave a five day gap between games due to restrictions put in place by the Saskatchewan Government. During the Christmas break the league will examine provincial Covid guidelines and comprise a schedule for the rest of the regular season and playoffs.
The early season cohort battles should only intensify rivalries. Moosomin has had heated playoff or provincial battles with Rocanvile, Esterhazy and Langenburg. Moosomin Ranger manager Peter Nabholz said, “For us playing Rocanville again is pretty exciting; they had some great teams in the past and we have gotten a pretty solid team the last 4 or 5 years. So the highway 8 rivalry should be good again this year for players and fans. Last year all our games vs Langenburg were close. Bredenbury and Esterhazy have had great teams the last couple years so I think our pool will be very equal and there should be some pretty exciting hockey.”
The Rocanvile Tigers were kings of the THL before they took a year off last season, which turned out to be the last season for the league; they had legendary battles with each team in their cohort. Tiger fans will be hoping for a fast start in what promises to be a competitive season.
The cohort of Canora, Ituna, Theodore and Hudson Bay promises to be heated as well. “We have been without hockey in Canora for 8 years. So hard to say, I would think Theodore would be [our biggest rival],” Executive for the Canora Cobras Cal Homeniuk said. He added that the town is buzzing about having a team again.
A tentative schedule has been released:
The Langenburg Warriors host their first home game on Saturday, November 14th against Moosomin. On Friday, November 27th the Warriors will see Rocanville travel to the Remax Arena. Saturday, December 5th Bredenbury heads to Langenburg and on Sunday, December 13th the Esterhazy Flyers will be in town.
The list of Bredenbury Cougars home games is as follows: Saturday, November 14th vs. Esterhazy; Friday, December 4th vs. Langenburg; Friday, December 11th vs. Rocanville and Saturday, December 19th vs. Moosomin.
The Esterhazy Flyers will play their first game on November 13th against Bredenbury Cougars; on the 14th, the Cougars will in-turn host the Flyers. On the 27th and 28th the Flyers will play Moosomin back and forth. The 4th and 5th of December will bring games against Rocanville, and the 12th and 13th will see the Langenburg Warriors face the Flyers.
Games for the Moosomin Rangers include versus Langenburg on November 13-14th, Rocanville on November 20-21st, Esterhazy on November 27-28th and against Bredenbury on December 18-19th.
The Rocanvile Tigers square off on November 20 at Moosomin they return home on November 21 to battle the Rangers again. November 27 takes the Tigers to Langenburg then they return November 28 to play the Warriors at home. On December 4 Rocanville will travel to Esterhazy then they return home on December 5 to play the Flyers again. The second December matchup takes the Tigers to Bredenbury on December 11 before their home game against the Cougars on December 12.
The schedule for the North cohort is as follows: November 20th will see Canora travel to Hudson Bay for an 8 P.M. start. Canora will host Ituna on the 21st at 8 P.M. Hudson Bay will host Theodore at 8 P.M. on the 28th. For December games, Ituna will head to Hudson Bay on the 5th at 8 P.M. and Theodore will also host Canora on the same day with an 8:30 P.M. start time. On the 11th, Theodore hosts Ituna at 8 P.M. On December 12th, two games are scheduled; the first has Ituna hosting Theodore at 8 P.M. and Hudson Bay heading to Canora for an 8 P.M. start time. The 18th has Theodore hosting Hudson Bay at 8:30 P.M. The 19th will bring Canora to Ituna at 8 P.M. and Canora hosting Theodore beginning at 8 P.M. The final game for the second cohort in December has Ituna hosting Hudson Bay on the 19th at 8 P.M.
*schedule subject to change without notice*
The league may be new but it features some old rivals as well. SEHL President Mike Stackhouse added, “It’s great to have so many clubs in the first year and we hope Moosomin and Langenburg stay beyond this season.”
For fans looking forward to watching, there are restrictions put in place for safety. There are only one hundred and fifty spectators allowed for the senior hockey games and all fans must wear a mask. Each rink has protocol put in place and the goal is to have a lengthy season if the fans can help the arena volunteers meet their provincially-designated health standards. Kitchens and beer gardens will be sparse, although some rinks are going ahead with food (which is great news for hockey fans, especially ones who enjoy having a rink burger).
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