Hi Mike,
There are a few inaccuracies in your story about the Keystone Junior League I would like to address. The Selkirk players were not injured in Norway House - they were injured in the first two games of the series which were played in Selkirk. In fact a couple of the players were injured enough to warrant hospital visits including Selkirk's #1 goalie. The other had his knee blown out from a low dirty hit - this required surgery and the player may be out next year depending on rehab, etc. Not an easy injury to come back from. The second game of the series was a complete gong show with Norway House taking 19 penalties in the third period alone (they were behind and ended up losing the game).
There are a few inaccuracies in your story about the Keystone Junior League I would like to address. The Selkirk players were not injured in Norway House - they were injured in the first two games of the series which were played in Selkirk. In fact a couple of the players were injured enough to warrant hospital visits including Selkirk's #1 goalie. The other had his knee blown out from a low dirty hit - this required surgery and the player may be out next year depending on rehab, etc. Not an easy injury to come back from. The second game of the series was a complete gong show with Norway House taking 19 penalties in the third period alone (they were behind and ended up losing the game).
As the Norway House team was already under probation with the league for questionable conduct earlier in the season, the league gave them a choice of either being suspended which would result in the series being awarded to Selkirk, or they could accept their home games being moved to a neutral site where the safety of ALL players on and off the ice could be monitored more closely by the league and officials. Norway House is a long 8 hour drive north and logistically a careful monitor of the games there by the league was not feasible. The NH team leaders accepted the neutral site as they decided it was better to keep playing. In the end they won the series against Selkirk in 6 games - Selkirk losing their #1 goalie to injury was something that tilted the series and although he came back to play was not even close to 100%.
In the finals, NH played their first 2 games in Arborg which they lost. After that the team executive along with the band chief and Maniitoba native leaders held a press conference denouncing the league decision to have them play their games in a neutral site as "racist" and declared they would only play their remaining home games in NH. They said it had nothing to do with discipline or player safety, but it was all racially motivated and they wouldn't stand for it. In a nutshell, they went back on their agreement with the league when it looked like they were going to lose. When NH didn't show up for their scheduled game at the neutral site, the league awarded the title to the Arborg team.
I for one applaud the league's stance in this matter - I witnessed the injuries and violence on the ice firsthand and it was deplorable. The NH coaches had NO control over their team as all. The league's decision had everything to do with player safety and nothing to do with racial issues. In fact, Selkirk has a number of players of aboriginal descent as do all the other teams in the league.
BTW - good players come out of this league including Detroit Red Wings forward Darren Helm who played for Selkirk years ago so YES - players CAN go to the NHL from this league.
END OF LETTER.........................Here is what caused this individual to write to me as this appeared in Yorkton This Week on April 4th.
There was an interesting development in Manitoba with their Junior ‘B’ hockey league, the Keystone Junior Hockey League, over the weekend. Apparently, the league ordered the Norway House North Stars to play their home games in Gimli instead of in Norway House. The reason being was that in the semi-finals, a number of players from Selkirk were injured when playing up there. The newspaper report doesn’t say whether they were attacked by fans or whether the games were extra rough, or what the actual reason for these guys getting hurt was. The politicians from Norway House got involved, the team was steadfast in not going to Gimli, and the championship has been awarded to the Arborg Ice Dawgs without playing a game beyond the first two that were slated to be played in Arborg anyway (the Ice Dawgs won both of those games). This is Junior ‘B’ hockey. Nobody is going to the NHL. If the games were stupid, I wouldn’t play. So I commend the league for this decision if player safety was an issue. Often, we error on the side of ‘offending’ someone in lieu of making a common choice that keeps someone safe. Norway House’s response could mean they’ll lose their team in the KJHL and I’m willing to bet the league will never go back.
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