One step forward, one step back.

Amidst the excitement for some sort of return to play for local high-school hockey talent comes the news of the cancellation of the OFSAA championships for a third straigh year.

While one and all involved with the league agree that staging the provincial playdown would have been nice, their understanding of the challenges involved helps to shape the belief that there is still much to be gained by playing out a season that showed plenty of promise in so many ways through the months of October and November and into December.

It would truly be a shame to lose that buzz completely, the one that permeated across every one of the high-school teams as they hit the ice back in the fall.

“The kids were so excited to get back on the ice,” noted St Charles coach and SDSSAA boys hockey convenor Darren Michelutti. “This year, from day one, it seemed the kids were asking when they could start.”

Of course, taking that reality and overlaying it on to the landscape of the hockey scene dating back to the middle of March 2020 created something of a moving target for all coaches and players and administrators involved, having to adjust plans on the fly with some regularity.

“A lot of the kids hadn’t played in a game situation in over a year, so they were unsure of some of the little things,” suggested Michelutti. “As the games progressed, I found that the competitive spirits really amped up.”

That, in itself, and perhaps in somewhat unexpected fashion, created another challenge to be tackled, according the Cardinals co-coach Rob Zanatta, who along with Michelutti and assistant coach Casey Thompson have the traditional local high-school hockey powerhouse sitting atop the standings, registering nine straight wins before Christmas.

“We noticed right away that there was a lot of pent-up energy throughout the league,” said Zanatta. “You were seeing more discipline problems than we would normally see. As we got through five or six games, we worked through that with a lot of them (the players), talked to a lot of them.”

“Things were really starting to click before the shutdown.”

Truth be told, no one involved with the league - or sport in general, for that matter - would raise even the slighest eyebrow over an initial period of adjustment early in the year, though for some teams, the reasons had less to do with taking an 18-month hiatus from game competition.

“Because our football season was a success - we were lucky enough to go to the championship game - we had kind of a scramble at the beginning of hockey season to get the team together, because we do have some athletes that play both,” noted Lo-Ellen Park Knights head co-coach Alex Vendramin, sharing bench duties with Jamie Bouchard after having also taken the helm of the football crew in the fall.

“We didn’t have much time for practice prior to our first hockey game against Notre-Dame. As we’ve progressed through the season and had more practices and games, it’s allowed the players to get together in the dressing room, building some chemistry. As the league closed down, we were starting to play some of our better hockey, which was great to see.”

In fact, with a record of 4-2-2, Vendramin and the Knights are right in the thick of a very tight race for a Division A berth. To clarify, SDSSAA boys hockey splits their season into two, with all teams entered competing in a full round robin schedule that typically takes them to the January exam break, sub-dividing into a top six (Division A), with the remaining teams battling it out for the Division B title.

Behind the Cardinals, the teams are quite bunched - CND Alouettes (6-1-1=13 pts); Lasalle Lancers (5-3-1=11); Horizon Aigles and LOE (both at 4-2-2=10); Lively Hawks and Confederation Chargers (both at 4-3-1=9). That’s seven teams looking for six slots, which adds a whole other layer of excitement to the anticipated return to play next week.

And while it might seem that the front-runners are unbeatable, the scores in a handful of games against the chase group have remained quite close for much of those encounters. “From when I first started in high-school hockey until now, the biggest difference is the parity in the league,” acknowledged Michelutti.

“In the last few years, you could have a sixth place team that had a shot at winning the city championship. This year, if you look at the standings, anywhere from third to seventh place, the positions are up for grabs.”

Still, there is no denying that St Charles College have broken from the pack. “I think we have great depth,” suggested Zanatta, opining about the undefeated status of a team that still seems to sit within that “hot goalie” or “fortunate bounce or two” range of being upset by the remaining contenders, especially in a short playoff series.

“We have eight or nine kids with more than nine points in nine games,” Zanatta continued. “We have fantastic team speed. One of our areas of focus was forechecking hard, going to get loose pucks and winning battles in the offensive zone.”

For the record, the SDSSAA scoring race currently features St Charles' forward Scott Rienguette (25 pts), Gavin Roy (22) and Matthew Vehkala (21) across the leaderboard.

Yet, as one chats with coach Vendramin (or many of the others who are guiding teams that were mentioned above), one can hear the optimism that comes with knowing that as the crews resume workouts for what will be a sprint to the finish, everyone has components in place of lineups capable of making some post-season noise.

“I think the group that we have has a lot of experience in the hockey world, playing at various levels,” said Vendramin. “Certainly, our AAA players - Nik Harry, Johnny Svalina, Marco Vallillee and others - have taken on that leadership role. But I also think we have some really good solid young players too, who have been contributing in their own way - and a couple of good goalies who have held us in games.”

It is true that the cancellation of OFSAA Championships consituted a gut punch for the dozens of local lads who dreamed of making it to provincials - but it’s not like there’s nothing to play for.

“We’re hoping that NOSSA gets played and that we can get into some out of town tournaments for these kids, get them some competition, some incentive that comes with going out of town and the team bonding that goes on there,” said Zanatta.

That might be the biggest step of all to come from a season unlike any other.