The Saddle Lake Jr. B Warriors’ season is in jeopardy once again as the team faces a suspension for the remainder of the season, for the second time in as many months.
In December, after violating the NEAJBHL’s minimum player requirement five times this season, the Warriors were suspended indefinitely pending an investigation into the matter and talks with other league members. The league elected to give them one more chance, and if they failed to produce 10 skaters and a goalie at the start of the game once more this season, the remainder of their year would be forfeit.
That failure, came, apparently, during the Warriors’ Dec. 23 game against the St. Paul Canadiens. On the official score sheet, the Warriors had just nine skaters and a goalie, which was one player short of the minimum requirement. But according to Mike Clague, the Warriors’ head coach, that wasn’t the case.
“It was really close that night, and we almost didn’t have enough skaters,” Clague said. “Puck drop was getting closer and closer and we were still two guys short. We tried to push back the start of the game, but the officials weren’t having it. They told us that we had to have 10 skaters by the time ‘O Canada’ was finished, and we did. I mean, just barely. But we had 10 guys plus our goalie.”
In a bizarre turn of events, according to Clague, the officials said that one of Saddle Lake’s skaters wasn’t ready to play, and had just put on skates and equipment over his street clothes in order to meet the requirement.
“What happened was that one of our boys was fully dressed, but told me that he needed some sock tape. So he went out to get it just after puck drop, but he took off his skates so he could go outside to get the tape. And I guess somewhere along the line, that action was misinterpreted as him wearing street clothes and not really being there to play.”
Now, the burden of proof lies on the shoulders of the Warriors organization as they seek to salvage their season once again by finding photo or video evidence that they did indeed have the required number of players on Dec. 23.
As of Jan. 2, the Warriors’ games had been postponed. NEAJBHL president Mark Hines said there are a couple of factors at play in getting things back on track.
“The league and Saddle Lake have to work out a couple issues before they are allowed to play again,” said Hines.
Time is quickly dwindling down for the issues to be resolved if the players on the roster want to play again this season. All teams have to cut down to a 21-man roster by Jan. 10, explained Hines.
“With the deadline looming, we want to resolve this before then, so if the suspension is upheld Saddle Lake players can find a new team to play with, if they choose to do so,” Hines said.
The Warriors currently sit dead last in the NEAJBHL with a 0-28 record.
