HALIFAX: The Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League’s (NSJHL) Board of Governors has decided that the league will resume play.
Following a Zoom meeting on Feb. 10, the NSJHL agreed to restart the schedule on Monday night. On Tuesday, the Strait Pirates will host the Eskasoni Junior Eagles at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre at 7:30 p.m.
On Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m., the Antigonish AA Munro Junior Bulldogs will visit the Pirates, then on Feb. 20 the Bulldogs will host the Pirates at 7:30 p.m. at the Antigonish Arena.
The Pirates will play host to the Pictou County Scotians at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 25, then are scheduled to travel to Eskasoni on Feb. 27.
The Bulldogs are set to host Eskasoni on Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m.
After visiting the Cumberland County Blues on Feb. 26, Antigonish will play host to the Blues on Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
According to a press release issued on Feb. 11 by the NSJHL, all play will take place within the respective Fred Fox and Sid Rowe Divisions with the regular season concluding Monday Feb. 28.
“The governors also agreed that with the down swing in league activity since Omicron bore through the province like a huge tidal wave back in December, it would only be fair to allow all teams to participate in the 21-22 league playoffs instead of having four teams begin play again for only between four and six regular season games,” board vice-chair Danny Hines of East Hants said.
As a result, the league said its playoff schedule will begin March 1 with the third and sixth place teams and the fourth and fifth place teams, in each division, playing a best-of-five mini-series concluding no later than March 8. The NSJHL said the winners of these series will then take on the first and second place teams in each division in the divisional semi-finals.
Despite of the unequal number of games being played by each team, the league said very little could be done to ensure an equal number of games considering with all the stops and starts that have transpired. Therefore, they decided that final division standings would be based on winning percentage.
When play was halted in December, the Bulldogs sat in first place overall in the NSJHL and atop the Side Rowe Division with a record of 15-1-1, good for 33 points. The Pirates are in third place in the same division with 7-6-1 record, giving them 15 points.
Semifinals will be played March 10 to 23, the divisional finals March 25 to April 6, and the provincial championship series is scheduled for April 8 to 23, the league noted.
The league added that the winner of the provincial championship is then scheduled to immediately go to Cocagne, New Brunswick for the Don Johnson Memorial Cup Atlantic Championship Tournament that is scheduled for April 26 to May 1.