The MIAA Board of Directors gave winter sports teams a holiday present right before Thanksgiving when it announced that winter sports would be approved and allowed to begin practices on Dec. 14. For area hockey coaches, it was a sigh of relief to hear that their teams would be allowed to compete this winter.
“With the way things have been going this year, just to get some form of a season is obviously better than nothing,” said Swampscott boys hockey coach Gino Faia. “I think as of right now we have plans to have a 14-game conference schedule, which would be fantastic. Anything we can do to get the kids out there is fine with me.”
“The most important thing is that we’re giving these kids an opportunity to get out there and compete,” said St. Mary’s girls hockey coach Frank Pagliuca. “It’s been a crazy calendar year, so for us to be able to provide a little bit of normalcy will be nice.”
As with the fall season, a number of safety modifications have been put in place to stem the potential spread of COVID-19. Hockey got off pretty light in terms of in-game modifications, with most of the changes coming in the form of adjustments to locker room procedures and spacing on the bench.
But what is a concern for many in the hockey community is the availability of rinks, which has already dwindled with the announcements that Endicott’s Bourque Arena and Salem State’s Rockett Arena won’t be available for use due to their respective schools’ decisions to postpone winter sports. With other rinks open but sitting in cities and towns with “red” COVID-19 designations — such as Lynn’s Connery Rink and Saugus’ Kasabuski Rink — the prospects of finding a place to play are first and foremost in everyone’s minds.
“It’s definitely a big concern at this point,” said Faia, whose Big Blue normally practice and play their home games at Rockett Arena. “We’ve had to scramble to set up early practice times at other rinks in the area, so it’s definitely been a scramble early on. Hopefully we can get a couple more rinks open and be able to have an easier time locking down practice time.”
“We’re fortunate to have Connery open at this point, but it’s been an issue for surrounding communities to find places to play,” said Pagliuca. “I think the biggest adjustment for everyone will be the off-ice things like the locker room and bench situations. Every rink will have different protocols, so I think there will be a definite adjustment period there.”
As for the in-game protocols that have been put in place for ice hockey, they are as follows:
— Limitations on total players – 20 players per team total, down from 22. Rink design respective of social distancing may dictate total players that may participate in a contest.
— Limit bench personnel to no more than three coaches and one athletic trainer; allow for social distancing of six feet or greater, teams must develop additional area(s) beyond the provided team bench for players to spread out for water breaks, social distancing, and other needs. Team benches must expand to areas in the rink that allow players to use additional seating allocated for players and coaches (only) to adhere to the six-feet spacing guidelines.
— Captains must maintain social distancing of six feet when talking or conferring with a game official.
— Game officials will maintain social distancing of six feet during the pre-game meeting with captains and head coaches.
— Warmup 5-7 minutes – During warm-up, all players must always maintain appropriate social distancing of six feet; no team/group gathering prior to, during or after warm-up; teams will maintain social distancing during warmups on each side of the ice; during warmups players will remain on the half of the ice they will defend.
— Suspend pregame protocol of shaking hands during introductions/pregame meeting.
— One person in the penalty box at a time, if another player must be in a designated “auxiliary box/location”, they must be social distanced either outside the penalty box or in the bench area as close to the penalty box as possible; when possible the second and or subsequent penalized players must move to the penalty box upon the exit of the previously penalized player.
— In the case that the penalty box is on the opposite side of the rink from the bench, the second and subsequent players penalized will serve it in a designated “auxiliary box/location” on the team bench/bench area and cannot come off the bench until the penalty is over.
— Players lined up opposing each other must be six feet apart and face in the direction of the faceoff location.
— Players preparing for the faceoff must set up six feet apart; referees will call-in participants for the puck drop.
— Only one defensive and one offensive player are permitted in any scrum along the boards; a third participant in any scrum will cause an immediate stoppage of play (whistle) by the official.
— Officials will have the authority to stop play (whistle) if a scrum (in any area of the ice) is prolonged greater than five seconds.
— Suspend postgame protocol of shaking hands.