It’s a grind, and only the strong survive.
It begins in late September, and finally comes to a halt in mid March, only to pause for 6 days before revying up into a feverish pitch called playoff hockey.
The grueling Western Hockey League regular season schedule is not for the faint of heart.
Rookies coming into the league have to adjust to a new city, new teammates,new home,new coach, new school and new systems.
On top of that they play more games than they likely did in midget or bantam hockey and have to do it against elite competition every night.
It amazes me that more of these teenagers don’t break down over the course of the season.
I’m not talking a mental breakdown, but a physical one.
These junior players are stretched to the limit in every facet of life over the course of the season.
Excluding the games is the daily practice sessions, schooling and public appearances that make your head spin.
They do all of this while coming home in the wee hours of the morning after a long bus ride.
Frankly these guys amaze me!
I can’t imagine getting off the bus at 6 in the morning, and being asked to go to class and sit there for three hours and concentrate.
Oh sure they sleep on the bus, but come on, how restful is that?
I’ve been doing it for 12 seasons now, and I still feel like dirt when I get off that thing.
Please someone…lead me to my bed!!!
It didn’t surprise me when I heard Kamloops trainer Colin Robinson had to be admitted to hospital on the weekend in Prince George with an i-v after contracting a virus.
The bus is a great way to travel, but it’s a disease pit.
If a player is ill on that thing, only rubber gloves and a surgical mask are going to protect you from air born viruses.
Some of the coughing around me in the bus is enough to make you run for cover, as colds are common place during the season because of exertion, lack of sleep and being in an environment (bus) that isn’t virus friendly.
If the rookies are not careful, they can wind up like Rockets forward Colin Long last season, who came down with a bout of mono.
Frankly I am surprised it doesn’t happen more.
It’s up to the coaching staff to monitor their players and make sure they are getting adequate rest, yet even at this level the pressure to win is so great, that even the premiere teams are obligated to play their top end players until the final game of the regular season just to claim the regular season crown.
Teams like Everett, Prince George, Regina and Brandon did the smart thing by rested some guys down the stretch knowing they need to have a full tank when the real season starts next week.
Some will always argue that a 72 game Western Hockey League schedule is just far to long.
A suggestion has been made to limit the number of games to 64 - 32 games at home and 32 games on the road.
It would improve the overall play on the ice as the players themselves wouldn’t be as fatigued so the overall entertainment level would be higher.
But are W.H.L owners going to agree to losing an extra 4 home games in revenue by going from 72 to 64?
That answer is – NO!
Let’s use the Rockets as an example.
If the team sells 6 thousand tickets at 15 bucks a pop that is 90,000 dollars in revenue a game (excluding expenses).
Multiple that by 4 (games lost if schedule reduced to 64) means a loss in revenue of 360 thousand dollars.
Do you think Bruce Hamilton would agree to that?
So the number of games in the W.H.L will never change, meaning the players who provide the entertainment will continually be put to the test.
I applaud these amazing athletes that make it through the 72 game regular season schedule unscathed.
When the playoffs begin next weekend, the players will be worn down mentally and physically, but a thing called adrenaline will take over leading them through potentially 4 rounds with the dream of holding the league championship trophy.
Ask the players that have won before and they will tell you, hoisting that trophy over your head makes the pain simply go away.
No comments:
Post a Comment