Happy New
Year to Everyone
I am sure
that we can all agree that the year 2021 was an incredibly challenging year for
anyone involved in Minor Hockey. Certainly, our International Silver Stick
family experienced frustrations and roadblocks in being able to host our
Regional Tournaments and Finals. For those tournaments that did run and were
completed, thank you everyone for persevering through all the required
protocols that each of your Regionals had to implement to ensure the safety and
well-being of all participants.
With regards to our Finals Tournaments, the Board of Directors made the decision to mirror the divisions hosted by the Sarnia and Port Huron Finals Tournaments this year. One in Canada and one in the US. This decision was made so there would be no cross-border travel during the pandemic to keep everyone safe and not have the added expense of testing requirements. Unfortunately, in Ontario, due to the mandate put in place by the Government of Ontario, we are not able to host our Finals Tournaments when they were originally scheduled. As a result, Pelham and Saugeen Shores will not be able to run this year as they have no access to ice later in the year. However, Newmarket, Sarnia, Forest, and Aurora have not cancelled but postponed their Finals with the hope of being able to reschedule later this quarter. Final decisions on whether this will be possible will be posted on their websites when the decision has been made. In the United States, our Finals Tournament in Port Huron is going ahead as scheduled with all required protocols in place to keep all involved safe and healthy. I wish them good luck with their Final.
Finally, on behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank all the teams that participated, referees, timekeepers and spectators that attended, Minor Hockey Association & Tournament Directors for continued dedication and commitment to minor youth hockey this year.
I look forward to the end of a successful Silver Stick season with the completion of our current postponed Finals Tournaments.
Yours in hockey,
Ross McConnell
Commissioner - International Silver Stick