The Northern Ontario Hockey Association and the Soo Jr. Greyhounds are offering few comments on the game they had to forfeit
The Jr. Greyhounds and the Northern Ontario Hockey Association have little to say after the team was forced to forfeit the deciding game of their league final due to a mess left behind in the dressing room.
The Soo Jr. Greyhounds and Copper Cliff U18 AA Reds split the opening two games of their best-of-three series on March 28 with the deciding game slated for the next morning.
But that game would not be played, due to the state of the locker room.
In a release, the Jr. Greyhounds say they left the arena in Blind River and received an email from the NOHA that said the third game was postponed.
The Jr. Greyhounds say the reason for the postponement was “due to the unkempt state of the Jr. Greyhounds dressing room and the unwillingness of the arena to host game three as planned.”
The mess in the dressing room was called “an unfortunate oversight” on the team’s part.
But within 24-48 hours of receiving the initial email from the league, “the NOHA’s decision escalated from postponement to a forced forfeit, claiming that ‘the cancellation set in motion a chain of events that ultimately made it impossible for the series to be completed,’” the team said.
In an email, Jr. Greyhounds manager Lindsay Fera confirmed the team would not do interviews, noting that the appeal is now with Hockey Canada.
Fera wouldn’t share a photo of the locker room, but she described how it looked when players left that day.
“The photos are not mine to share, but they essentially show 13 water/Gatorade bottles, a hanging towel and some tape and wrappers on the floor,” she said.
“There was no vandalism or damage. The kids accepted ownership when notified, took it upon themselves to apologize and their apology was accepted.”
An unnamed person from the Sudbury team also declined to comment via social media.
“Copper Cliff Minor Hockey was not involved in the incident, investigation or the decision made by the NOHA. I have no further comment at this time.”
In an email, Jason Marchand, NOHA’s executive director, said the league couldn’t comment on the situation.
“Unfortunately I am not able to share photos, and as mentioned, because this matter is under appeal, we are unable to provide comment on the situation,” he said.
The forfeiture ended the Jr. Greyhounds bid for a spot in the provincial championship for their age level with the NOHA being represented by the Reds at the event, which will be held in Kitchener starting April 17.
A lack of arena availability in the Sault and Sudbury led to the three-game series being scheduled in Blind River.
The team has issued a letter of apology to the Town of Blind River and arena and say it “has since been formally accepted and the town is willing to host game three if they are allowed to play.”
Attempts to contact officials in Blind River to discuss the state of the dressing room have been unsuccessful.
if you would like to share the photo, please send it to [email protected].
– with files from Brandon Walker
