Pats, other Sask. WHL teams ‘excited’ for life in a bubble

Seven WHL teams will be living in a bubble in Regina in the coming months — and the hometown Pats are ecstatic about it.

The WHL announced Friday it had received approval from Saskatchewan health authorities to make Regina the hub city for the East Division for the 2021 regular season.

The league’s five Saskatchewan-based teams (the Pats, Moose Jaw Warriors, Prince Albert Raiders, Saskatoon Blades and Swift Current Broncos) and the two squads based in Manitoba (Brandon Wheat Kings and Winnipeg Ice) will play all of their games at the Brandt Centre.

Each team is to play 24 games in the regular season, which is to start March 12.

Pats president Todd Lumbard is just glad to see some hockey action on the prairies.

“We have been on a mission for a long time to get our players back on the ice … and we’re really excited, mostly for our players,” Lumbard said.

“It has basically been a full year since they have played hockey. (They’re) young men who want to develop their skills and play the game they love, so we’re just really excited for them to be able to do that.”

After the 2019-20 WHL season was postponed and eventually cancelled in mid-March due to COVID-19, the league attempted to organize a return to play with some fans in arenas for November.

Once that didn’t pan out, the league tried to begin the new regular season in January or February before finalizing Regina’s hub model Friday.

Lumbard thinks it’s a great opportunity for Saskatchewan’s capital to show off what it can do when it comes to sports.

“I think it’s great for Regina,” he said. “Showcasing our facilities to all these teams — and being able to pull something like this off in a very difficult, challenging and unprecedented time — says a lot for the resources that Regina was able to pull together to do this …

“It’s going to take a lot of work going forward, but I think it speaks really well of Regina.”

While fans won’t be allowed at the games, Lumbard still thinks people have a lot to look forward to.

“It’s pretty neat for Regina,” he said. “It’s very unique and different in the sense that it’s an event with no fans, but at the same time, we’re going to have seven WHL teams staying here …

“It’s just exciting to see hockey going. I hope it gives hope for people who have been locked at home for a long time that at least some things are happening again.”

Moose Jaw ready to head east

While the hub city model will be a big adjustment for every team, the Warriors are looking on the bright side of the new season.

Head coach Mark O’Leary said during a media conference Friday he and his team are excited to get back on the ice for some real competition again.

“We have certainly gotten a year older, so that has to count for something, I hope …,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing where the teams are at and the (competition) of seven teams working away over 24 games.”

O’Leary also thinks the atmosphere of playing every game in Regina has some upsides.

“I’m really excited for the players and the unique opportunity we have here to be surrounded by hockey for 60 days. You feel a bit like a kid heading away to a weekend tournament; it just happens to be a whole bunch of weekends,” O’Leary said.

Because teams haven’t played for almost a year, O’Leary thinks it might take some time to work out the kinks and get back into top form.

“I think (the players) will adapt really (quickly). That’s true in any circumstance with teenage kids,” he said. “I think we have seen many times before they can adapt to whatever position they’re put in.

“There’s going to be a whole lot of excitement and enthusiasm, so that will take them a long way. I’m not anticipating the hockey being real great and crisp right off the start, but I look forward to … (helping) that along and (making) sure that Day 5 looks a whole lot different from Day 50.”

Alan Millar, the Warriors’ general manager, shared some details about how the Regina hub will work.

For one, he said players will be housed at dorms at the University of Regina and Luther College.

He also said his team will start isolating at home starting on Feb. 20 before travelling to Regina on Feb. 27. However, he stressed many of the details when it comes to operations in the hub aren’t finalized yet.

Saskatoon’s take on the hub

Blades general manager Colin Priestner has had to use plenty of patience over the last year waiting for his team to get back on the ice.

“It has just been a waiting game. We’ve had to be patient and there’s no point in being negative,” Priestner said. “We knew when we got shut down last year that (COVID) wasn’t just affecting last year, it was affecting this year too.

“We’re going to be two days past one year since our last game.”

Trying to use many aspects of the bubbles seen in Edmonton for the Stanley Cup playoffs and the IIHF world junior championship, Regina’s hub will resemble the previous bubbles. But it will have some differences, too.

“There’s going to be a few points that are not as tight as the world juniors, perhaps,” Priestner said in reference to referees, bus drivers and other personnel moving freely.

“It’s not going to be as hermetically sealed as the world juniors, I suppose. When you’re dealing with Hockey Canada, they have a bit of a budget that has a couple more zeroes on it than us.”

With seven WHL teams taking over dorms at Luther College, Priestner isn’t worried about social aspects taking over the focus of having a shortened season happen as smoothly as possible.

“There’s going to be energy needed in spades for these games,” Priestner said.

Blades head coach Mitch Love is set for his third version of COVID precautions and testing to play hockey after helping guide Team Canada to a silver medal at last month’s world junior tournament.

“I’m sure he’s had his fair share of quarantining and I don’t think he’ll ever want to be in a bubble ever again for the rest of his life,” Priestner said.

“But I think he knows this is the only way that we could play. He’s a very competitive person, and he really wants to get these kids pushing each other every day.”

— With files from 980 CJME’s Keenan Sorokan and Logan Stein