As Coquitlam Express players scatter back to their hometowns for the holiday break, many are wondering what they might return to when the team is scheduled to resume its BC Hockey League season on Jan. 2.
Will there be fans to cheer them on at the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex?
Will they even be allowed to play out the rest of the season?
The rapid ascent of COVID-19’s Omicron variant has once again cast a cloud of uncertainty over much of society and Express general manager Tali Campbell says his charges are feeling anxious.
Monday, new provincial public health orders took effect in an effort to try to limit the opportunities for the virulent new strain of the contagion to spread. Among those orders is a cap of 50 per cent capacity for events taking place in venues that can hold 1,000 people or more. The restriction is in effect until Jan. 31.
That’s a particular blow to the Express, Campbell said. The team has seven home games scheduled in January, including special events like its “retro night,” and a celebration of its 25th anniversary that includes appearances by several former players.
Campbell said renewed COVID trepidation was already apparent prior to last Saturday’s home game against the Powell River Kings as he fielded several calls and emails from ticket holders enquiring about refunds and enhanced safety procedures.
The new restrictions are just another blow for an organization that had a possible league and national championships yanked from its grasp when the onset of the pandemic forced the BCHL to shut down its 2020 playoffs after the first round.
Then a five-week exhibition season that fall was cut short by public health orders and a subsequent pod season last spring sent the Express to Burnaby to play a series of games against the Kings and the Surrey Eagles in an empty arena.
“It’s hard to grasp this now," Campbell said of the latest setback. "We feel like we’re two steps ahead, then 10 steps behind."
But one of those steps back may yet turn out to be a huge leap forward.
A road trip to Merritt and Prince George in November turned into a protracted bonding exercise when a record rainstorm that flooded parts of British Columbia and damaged several key highways stranded the team in Kamloops for several days.
Campbell said being cut off from home and running out of clean clothes brought the group together in a way no single victory could — although coming off a 7-6 overtime win against the Centennials and a 3-1 victory over the Spruce Kings certainly helped as well.
“Everyone stayed positive,” Campbell said. “That’s when we changed our mindset to challenge everyone to get better.”
And while that shift hasn’t always translated to results on the ice as yet, Campbell said he hasn’t been more proud of the young men his players are becoming.
He said sign-up sheets he posts on the dressing room wall soliciting volunteers for various events like visits to schools or community appearances are quickly filled and often oversubscribed.
Several players have put forward their own ideas to help out, including a campaign by Port Moody’s Ryan Tattle that raises money for a new breast cancer clinic at Eagle Ridge Hospital with every point he scores.
“This is the most bought-in group I’ve been a part of,” said Campbell, who previously worked with the Nanaimo Clippers and the Alberni Valley Bulldogs.
Ironically, some of the players’ enthusiasm for being a part of the community where they play may be due to the very pandemic that’s also brought them so much tumult and stress.
Campbell said the past two seasons have really brought home to players the uniqueness of their opportunity and the importance of this stage in their lives.
He said after having the sport they love snatched away from them, or playing it in empty arenas, they've really gained an appreciation for their interactions with young players and fans, whether that’s joining a minor hockey team for a practice or celebrating a goal to the cheers of a thousand people in the stands.
“It’s really opened a lot eyes that any moment, this can be taken away again.”
