Photo: Facebook / Deen Fleet

By Shaun Penner

High Prairie

High Prairie Regals out of North Peace Hockey League

Nov 7, 2019 | 1:40 PM

Due to a severe lack of player commitment, the High Prairie Regals have announced that they are folding operations and will no longer be a part of the North Peace Hockey League.

The decision was made by the team’s executive Wednesday, after a rather poor turnout of players to their season opener in Manning on Saturday. Only five players and a goalie showed up for the game, which led to the team facing a $1,000 fine from the league for falling short of the minimum nine players.

League President Jack McAvoy says it’s another tough blow to the league, but knows that the team can’t continue with a turnout like that.

“It’s a sad situation for everybody.”

“It’s not good for the league. High Prairie, they’ve been in the league since 1957. They had one year that they didn’t have a team, but they’ve been a storied franchise for years. But, it had to happen.”

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The Regals become the second team to step away from the league in the last month, after the Fort St. John Flyers announced they would be taking a one-year leave of absence back in October.

The league is now down to just five teams for the rest of the 2019-2020 season, and a new schedule will be announced in the coming days.

In the meantime, McAvoy reflects on the tough times senior hockey has come across in recent years. In the last decade, communities like Beaverlodge, Fairview, Valleyview, Horse Lake, Hythe and Spirit River have all seen their teams disappear, all for similar reasons: the commitment and interest is just not what it used to be.

This decline though, is not unique to this area.

“It’s not only in the Peace Country, like the Chinook League, the AAA league, they’ve only got two teams left with Innisfail and Stony Plain,” said McAvoy. “The teams in Saskatchewan folded, there’s lot of teams dropping out in the southern leagues. It’s just getting harder and harder to field a team in senior hockey.”

McAvoy refers to the league as a “working league”, meaning guys have to put their jobs, family and many other things first. At the end of the day, those that can find the time to commit to practices and games on a regular basis are become few and far between.

The Regals were slated to host the Comets Thursday night, but that game will obviously not be played.

However, the Grande Prairie Athletics will visit the Grimshaw Huskies this evening.

Puck drop goes at 8:30.