The Ontario Junior Hockey League Board of Governors cancelled the 2020-2021 season.
An OJHL press release that came out on Tuesday, April 13, explained that the reasons for the cancellation were due to several factors that included: the Hockey Canada season ending on May 31, 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent province-wide stay-at-home order.
This decision includes our hometown Oakville Blades, who sadly could never dress for a single game this year and will not play, in the best-case scenario, until late 2021.
Even though the league "planned extensively with medical professionals to ensure players' and staff's safety," the current stay-at-home order has created too many obstacles. The new variants have made it extremely challenging for them to have a safe and successful season for their teams.
"Week after week, the OJHL has adjusted the league plan with the goal of getting any type of possible season in for our players," said Commissioner Marty Savoy on the cancellation.
"With Ontario currently in a 28-day stay-at-home order and the end of the Hockey Canada season fast approaching, the league’s Board of Governors have made the very difficult decision to officially conclude the 2020-2021 OJHL season and turn our attention and planning for the upcoming 2021-2022 season."
The Blades also released a statement on their own Twitter account: "Obviously this is not how we envisioned this season, but nonetheless, we’d like to thank everyone involved who worked their hardest into making a season happen. Thank you to our players who worked tirelessly preparing for the season; we will be back better than ever."
The OJHL had only six teams play games this season, across 58 exhibition matches. The league is "proud of those games' results" and that no spread of COVID-19 was found amongst the players, coaches, and staff.
While the season may be over, the league has announced that once the province has lifted the stay-at-home order, teams permitted to play games by public health authorities can play exhibition-style games.