Navigators in uncharted waters as coronavirus breeds uncertainty

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This has been a hockey off-season unlike any other in modern times, filled with plenty of questions and a lack of solutions, as of yet.

Due to the novel coronavirus, there is a significant amount of uncertainty surrounding every team in the North West Junior Hockey League.

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And the uncertainty seeps into every corner of a hockey franchise—with the North Peace Navigators being just one franchise—from recruiting though to financing and beyond.

“We’re not certain how Hockey Canada proceeds with this, how Hockey Alberta proceeds (and) with a lot of companies you rely on for sponsorship and them being shut down,” Navigators General Manager Mike Fosty said. “Are you going to ice a team or finance a team because of the financial situation? It’s going to be a very trying period for everybody in the league.”

As of Friday morning, the NWJHL hasn’t contacted the Navs with plans or suggestions about a collective solution to worst-case scenarios.

A few scenarios could be a shortened season, no season or playing a season without fans.

“We haven’t any league meetings, via conference call, or anything like that since the end of the season,” Fosty said. “So, nothing has been discussed and nobody really knows what’s going to happen. We all have to wait on Hockey Alberta and what they’re going to tell us for how things are going to proceed. Everybody has to sit and wait.”

Fosty was asked if his team could afford a season without cans in the stands.

“For us, I know it’s not financially possible,” Fosty said. “That’s usually half our budget, for what we bring in, (is the) fans. It’s going to be a tough slug. We all bus—some teams have their own buses, but they still have to pay for fuel and the driver. When you’re chartering, that’s a lot of money and ice rental is big money. Unless you’re putting people in the seats, and you rely on that as part of your budget, then I don’t know. Things might not go the way everyone wants them to go.”

Adding and subtracting

But the business of hockey must continue and the general manager noted the team has an off-season wish list that includes “maybe a little more scoring.” Fosty would certainly take an impact defenceman like Tulsen Fawcett, who is heading to Mount Royal University in Calgary.

The Navs lost goaltender Ryan Noble to aging out, leaving Christopher Key as the incumbent between the pipes.

“Goaltending wise, losing Noble, (that’s going to be a tough position) to fill,” Fosty said. “I think Key showed a lot in the games he did play, that he can definitely play in this league. We got a line on a couple of other goaltenders that are looking to come to camp to, hopefully, help us out.”

Key won 10 of a dozen games played last season, posting a 2.58 goals-against-average and a .914 save percentage.

Other confirmed subtractions are Dawson Briscoe and Chaston Paul, both joining Noble as the 21-year-old players who aged out themselves out of the league.

The dotted line

The coronavirus has made the recruiting of players a little more challenging as prospect camps and Junior A spring camps have been cancelled.

“It’s hard to sign anybody with the situation everybody is in right now,” Fosty said. “We have sent invites to (players) we saw play in midget AA and that sort of thing. We’re still working that way. Usually, at this time of the year, one of our coaches is heading down to Edmonton for prospect camps, going around the province looking at the Jr. A spring camps but, unfortunately, none of that is available. We just have to rely in word of mouth about our organization and go from there.”

Confidence is king

The Navigators were set to play the Fort St. John Huskies in the league final before Hockey Canada shut down every sanctioned event on Mar. 13, the day the championship was scheduled to begin.

“I’m very confident we can get back there next year,” Fosty said.

“We have a core (of players) coming back, they have some unfinished business and they felt strongly about winning everything,” he added, while noting he’s got 14-15 guys returning to the lineup for next season. “They all want to come back. We’re pretty confidence, if we can add some pieces, then we feel pretty good about what we’ve got.”