Management with the Grande Prairie JDA Kings can’t hide their frustration with a lack of ice time, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to play havoc with their schedule.
Slated to match up with Fairview this past weekend, General Manager Kyle Chapple says the latest round of targeted restrictions laid out by the Province of Alberta on Thursday put that on hold in a quick way.
“We were just finishing our couple of week quarantine that you have to take between series you play between teams, and the Thursday, the last day before we would start up gameplay, we got shut down again,”
“It was frustrating and disappointing telling the players all the work and practice we put in over the last few weeks…is on hold again.”
He says moving forward, the team hopes to put together a plan with Hockey Alberta which would allow the team to play solely on the road.
“I think this was kind of dropped on them as well, and they were kind of scrambling, trying to make decisions on who could play and who couldn’t.”
Chapple adds the players have done an extraordinary job thus far in keeping focused on the tasks at hand but admits it will become more of a mental strain on players, and staff, as the changes continue.
“It’s going to be difficult moving forward to keep them motivated because I think in the back of their mind, they’re waiting for it just to get shut down again. So far, they’ve hung in there, they understand the situation and know it’s out of our control.”
The Kings play their home games at the Crosslink Sports Centre, which, as of November 13th, fell under the provincial restriction which sees the suspension of indoor team sports until at least November 27th.