The Nipawin Hawks (White/Yellow/Black) battle the Battlefords North Stars (Black/Grey) in the 2020 SJHL Playoffs. (Martin Martinson/BattlefordsNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

SJHL Coaches Meeting

SJHL Coaches discuss upcoming season, draft, keeping players in Saskatchewan at meetings in Nipawin

Jun 7, 2021 | 4:00 PM

Coaches from all 12 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League teams met in Nipawin between June 3 and 5 to discuss the league and the coming season.

A number of topics were discussed, including what the 2021/2022 season would look like, the draft, training camps, and more. Battlefords North Stars head coach and general manager Brayden Klimosko said it was good conversation and helped foster some certainty for the season.

“I think we feel more confident in what we should expect for next year,” Klimosko said. “So, I think overall it’s just less uncertainty, more back to normal talk, and that’s the big thing that I took away from it.”

Nipawin Hawks head coach Doug Johnson said their meetings were very productive and together had good conversation about the league. One topic that stood out to him was discussion with the Saskatchewan Hockey Association (SHA) about trying to keep Saskatchewan-born players in the province to play Junior A hockey.

Players are allowed to leave the province to play Junior A hockey for their 18-year-old season, and Johnson said over half of those players that leave are traded back to the province within a year.

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“There’s a misconception out there that players leaving the province, they can get [NCAA Division I] scholarships a lot easier than if they stay in Saskatchewan,” Johnson said. “And that is just completely false.”

Johnson said it’s a fact finding mission and information needs to get out to those players about the benefits of playing at home in the SJHL.

Another major topic on everyone’s minds is the schedule and how the season will be played this year. Johnson said as it stands right now, there’s a tentative start date of September 24, and a full season is planned.

“Hopefully that doesn’t change, and I can’t see it changing,” — Nipawin Hawks Head Coach Doug Johnson on the status of the 2021/2022 season.

With the SJHL schedule comes talk about training camps this season as well. Klimosko said there has been some discussion about possible length of training camps.

He said that is all dependent on each team and what they might want to do as they prepare for a season.

“I would like a longer training camp,” Klimosko said. “Just because these kids have been off for so long.”

Meanwhile, the SJHL draft normally would take place this month as part of the league’s annual general meeting, but it has been pushed back due to limited chances to see players due to COVID-19. A number of options for the draft has been talked about, including moving it back to later in the year, similar to the Western Hockey League, but there are a number of ideas on the table.

“We just want to make sure we talk about everything, think about everything before we make a decision,” Johnson said. “Because, we make a decision, we want to make sure it’s for the betterment of the league and it’s a long-term decision.”

There is still plenty to be sorted as the SJHL works towards a season this September, and more will be discussed in Humboldt as the league holds their AGM on June 25 and 26 with the league scheduling meeting set to take place on June 24.

With Files From Martin Martinson, BattlefordsNOW

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mat.barrett@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @matbarrett6