And with that, the first season of rec league hockey in the age of Covid-19 in Yellowknife has come to an end.

And it ended with the best team from the regular season ending up on top of the heap following the playoffs.

Ace are your 2020-2021 Yk Rec Hockey League champions after knocking off the Weaver and Devore Marauders, 5-0, in the decider on March 31 at the Multiplex. Gavin Dwyer was perfect for Ace as he pitched a shutout between the pipes while Josh Mitton scored the game's opening SA国际影视传媒� and what turned into the game-winning SA国际影视传媒� goal.

Devin Hinchey of Ace had perhaps the worst vantage point in which to view Mitton's marker SA国际影视传媒� he was bent over fixing his skates.

SA国际影视传媒淚t's about 20 or 30 seconds in and I'm working on my skates,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淚 hear cheering and asked if we scored.SA国际影视传媒�

Maybe Mitton did. Maybe Mitton didn't. All depends on who you ask.

SA国际影视传媒淚 think if it ended up being a 1-0 game, it would have been a much bigger deal than it was,SA国际影视传媒� said Hinchey. SA国际影视传媒淟uckily, it wasn't the only goal and it was the best start we could've asked for, especially against them.SA国际影视传媒�

Marauders defenceman Ryan Nichols said his team simply had no answer for Ace.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey shut the door on us,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭hey were the best all year long and congratulations to them.SA国际影视传媒�

Having the season at all was very much up in the air as late as October with occupancy requirements at the Multiplex still within the 25-person range per arena.

But there was hockey to be played after all as the league got permission to have up to 11 players per team with one goaltender for a total of 24 players total with one official bringing it up to 25.

The league also laid down several rules with Covid-19 in mind. Each game would be two 25-minute periods SA国际影视传媒� running time SA国际影视传媒� with no changeovers, no spitting, no post-game handshakes and no shootouts to solve tied games.

Each team was to arrive no more than 15 minutes before their scheduled game time and had 15 minutes to leave the building after their game was completed.

Nichols, who also serves as the league's president, said it was a different season, to say the least, but it went as smooth as it could have.

SA国际影视传媒淗aving the 15-minute rule wasn't too much of an issue,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淣o complaints from anyone that I heard but I think people missed the hanging out part of it. That's a big part of rec hockey SA国际影视传媒� getting together and hanging out after the game SA国际影视传媒� and we lost that this season but it's something we had to give up so we could play.SA国际影视传媒�

Hinchey said a lot of the players had come off a season of Covid-19 rules in the Yk Fastball League last summer and knew what to expect coming into the hockey season.

SA国际影视传媒淚t certainly helped that we had guys who had that experience of fastball,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭he season is on the verge and we had to get it right or we don't play hockey SA国际影视传媒� it's that simple. I'm glad everyone took it seriously.SA国际影视传媒�

If there were any issues with rules being broken, Hinchey said Nichols was on it right away.

SA国际影视传媒淣o matter what it was, he was diligent about it,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淎 lot of people have mental and physical issues, some of it as a cause of Covid-19, and it was good for us to have hockey to go to.SA国际影视传媒�

Something else that was bereft this season was the amount of disciplinary issues and Nichols said he was happy to see that.

SA国际影视传媒淭here weren't too many fights or any sort of stick infractions this season,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淪uspensions were way down and I think the rules had something to do with it.SA国际影视传媒�

Normally, a player receives a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for engaging in fisticuffs but this season, the league clamped down: any fighting and the offending players were gone for the duration of the season, including playoffs.

SA国际影视传媒淚t was one of those situations where you stopped and thought about whether you really wanted to drop the gloves,SA国际影视传媒� said Nichols. SA国际影视传媒淚t was tamed down quite a bit.SA国际影视传媒�

For the second year in a row, there was no Easter-time tournament owing to the ongoing pandemic with Nichols saying it just wouldn't work out financially.

SA国际影视传媒淲e looked into doing something but it came down to players having plans for the long weekend already and there wasn't a lot of interest,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭he beer garden helps drive down our costs quite a bit but there was no way we could have that under Covid rules and the league just couldn't eat the cost of what it would take to host.SA国际影视传媒�

The hope for next season, said Nichols, is to have things return to normal but who's to say right now?

SA国际影视传媒淵ou can't predict what's going to happen,SA国际影视传媒� he said. SA国际影视传媒淭he plan is to keep things at 14 per team right now and hopefully, it changes for the better and if it does, we go back to the way it was.SA国际影视传媒�