The evening of Thursday, February 2nd, 2021, brought some contrasting news in the world of UK hockey.
The Elite League confirmed that the 2020-21 season shall not transpire, despite the Government Winter Survival package.
The official statement on EIHA’s website went on to say:
“The sport owes its gratitude to the EIHL for trying to support our sport at this critical time and had geared their support towards preparing our athletes ahead of the World Championship later this year.
Whilst this is not the ideal position for these athletes, we are reassured by continuing dialogue between the EIHL and Sport England around supporting our teams financial viability and to ensure a successful launch of the 2021-22 season.
Ice Hockey UK would like to thank the EIHL for their support to the Great Britain programme by attempting to operate a league which would have allowed GB players to access invaluable ice time in advance of the forthcoming World Championship.”
In far better news, the EIHA and NIHL announced a phased return to play starting this month with teams in the National Division.
The owner’s group have released the following statement:
“The NIHL National owners group has been working hard with the EIHA and rink operators over the past months to determine options for returning to play. We are hugely grateful for the collaboration, support and teamwork across all these groups and today we’d like to confirm our plans going forward.
Phase one of the Return to Play process will see five teams taking part in a National League Spring Cup during February and March. This competition will see two of the Streaming Series teams, Sheffield and Swindon, joined by the Bees, Raiders and Telford Tigers.
Here are the details:
• 5 teams playing each other home and away over 7 weekends each team playing each other 3 times for a total of 12 games each
• All games to be played behind closed doors, with streaming where facilities are available
• Points to be allocated using the usual league rules, with the top placed team at the end of the series awarded the cup. If fixtures cannot be played as scheduled, the teams in conjunction with the EIHA will determine the appropriate award or rescheduling of the game.
Phase two of the Return to Play process will give all ten teams of the NIHL National division the chance to participate in a league competition during April and May, details will be confirmed at a later date.
In developing this series, we have been heavily focused on safety, and our role as an Elite Sport during the current national lockdown. At all times teams will comply with government regulations and the return to play rules from the EIHA. To increase our insight and warning of any potential COVID infections, all teams will also be running weekly Covid testing of all players with a clear communication plan in the event of positive test results.
All in all, we are now at a key moment for NIHL National teams returning to the ice. If we are able to do this, it will provide a real boost to the mental health of players, coaches, staff and fans, and be another step towards the survival and wider return of our sport as the benefit of Covid vaccinations is seen across the country.
We will release fixture information and further details in the coming days and look forward to beginning the competition. We’re doing everything we can to make this safely happen. Thank you so much for your support and patience and we will see you on the ice soon!”
So it appears as if hockey will be returning to the UK, at least for the short-term, in a format similar to what we witnessed in November 2020.
That three-team streaming series featured the MK Lightening, Sheffield Steeldogs and Swindon Wildcats, was streamed online and hosted over three weekends.
Essentially put together as a pilot series, it proved a success and has given rise to a larger series this time around albeit without MK Lightning who chose to opt-out at this stage. https://www.mk-lightning.co.uk/nihl-national-update/
It remains to be seen just how viable this ‘Streaming Series 2′ is with the UK now seemingly struggling more at the current time than back in November. That being considered, there is no doubting that those at the helm of putting this event on will do everything in their power to make it work.
This will give the opportunity for Team GB players who have remained in the UK and struggled to garner much ice-time during the length of the pandemic to get in some competitive action before the 2021 World Championships.
Will a certain Liam Kirk lace his skates up on UK ice since his move to Canada?
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