CANMORE – Exhibition hockey is flying towards the Canmore Eagles in November as Alberta increases cohort sizes for sports leagues.
On the Alberta Junior A Hockey League’s (AJHL) website, the Eagles are scheduled to face the Calgary Canucks in back-to-back games Nov. 6-7, with puck drop at 7 p.m. next Friday at the Canmore rec centre, and at 7 p.m. at the Max Bell Centre next Saturday.
“For now, I’m comfortable saying we’ll be playing games for November," said Andrew Milne, the Eagles head coach and general manager. "The four weekends right now in November, tentatively, I think we’ll play.”
The AJHL’s board of governors vote Thursday (Oct. 29) on the league’s next steps for November, which could include more exhibition games, or the start of the regular season.
“It’s speculation, but that’s kind of the plan that's been put into play; we’d play those exhibitions games (Nov. 6-7) and the 14th may be exhibition, or it may be regular season, we don’t know,” said Milne.
A recent announcement from the Alberta government increased cohorts for league competition to 150 participants from its previous size of 50.
It includes players, coaches and staff, officials and volunteers who interact routinely at a distance of two metres or less.
Under the 50 participant cohort guideline, the AJHL utilized a 14-team exhibition series where two teams exclusively faced off against each other for seven games throughout October. The Eagles were the only team excluded from the series after survey feedback from the local club.
Using old criteria logic for the new one, teams of up to five or six would be able to be in a cohort against each other.
However, financial challenges still present a major factor for the Eagles, with Alberta's arenas’ max capacity currently at 100 under guidelines.
If a season happens and the 100-person capacity is in place, there is a possibility that the Eagles ticket sales would increase to compensate for shortcomings and more money might have to come out of players' pockets, said Milne.
Last season, single game ticket prices were $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and students, $8 for children and free for children under six.
“That gives us a sense of possibility a season could happen, but the question becomes at what expense to the players?” said Milne.
“With only 100-person capacity, it’s going to be hard for us to meet the budget, so there will probably be compensation for the players that the players will have to pay and that’s going to be something they’ll have to look at and see if that’s what they want to do.”
Milne added he has a “high level of concern for the long-term viability of the season” as a result.
The Eagles home ice, the Alex Kaleta Arena inside the Town of Canmore-run rec centre, has 584 seats for fans.
Currently, the arena is open for standing room only – 40 people – but Milne is optimistic that number will increase to the allotted provincial number once the club has put together a proposed health and safety plan to the Town.
In a statement, the Town of Canmore said: "We are willing to work with groups wishing to have larger audiences to carefully plan activities in accordance with provincial guidance documents [which indicate a maximum of 100 spectators for indoor events]."
EAGLES SEEK BILLETS
Despite uncertainty surrounding the upcoming season, the Eagles are looking for billet families to house 10 players for November.
During October training, the members of the team stayed at Silvertip Resort in Canmore.
"As much as that was great, Silvertip was awesome, these players still need a home and family and some interaction in the evenings with families. I think that was a big part of what these kids really lacked when we had that month, is that family interaction," said Milne.
Contact [email protected] for more information.
