The North Van Wolf Pack's dream season has come to a premature end as the PJHL championship final has been cancelled following Hockey Canada's decision to suspend all play until further notice due to coronavirus concerns.
The Wolf Pack, the defending PJHL champions, were set to open the final series at Harry Jerome arena tomorrow night against the Aldergrove Kodiaks. Today the league announced there will be no league champion named for the 2019-20 season.
North Van is coming off an epic regular season that saw the team win 40 games to set a new PJHL record, a feat made all the more impressive given the fact that it was accomplished in just 44 games. The PJHL season was 48 games long up until the 2009-10 season.
Hockey's shutdown has caused the cancellation of other upcoming North Shore events, including the U15AAA (Major Bantam) provincial tournament that was to be hosted by the North Shore Winter Club and the boys Bantam Tier 3 provincial championship tournament that was to be hosted by the West Vancouver Minor Hockey Association.
The West Vancouver Warriors midget team was warming up for a Canadian Sport School Hockey League playoff game Thursday night when word came down that Hockey Canada was pulling the plug on all competitions.
Hockey Canada Has stopped the CSSHL championships pulling players off the ice. West Van and Edge Midget Prep. So much agony! Kids were on the ice. So sad! Minor hockey is done for the year. pic.twitter.com/p3jAUVhy0X
— Kevin Gallant (@APatforever) March 13, 2020
"We recognize the tremendous effort that has been put forth all year by individuals across the country as they participate in Canada’s game," stated a Hockey Canada release. "Although it is difficult to process the hockey season ending abruptly, we feel this is the best course of action in order to do our part in keeping our country safe.”
