The general manager of the Sarnia Sting is impressed by a player-led petition calling on the Ontario Hockey League to resume play.
Owen Sound Attack defenceman Andrew Perrott published an open letter to the provincial government and the league, that as of Friday, had over 2,100 signatures.
Sting GM Dylan Seca told Blackburn News he's impressed with the players and their resiliency in the midst of the year-long pandemic.
"I think it's just an example of how passionate they are, how much they really want to play. It's a well written document -- will it have any leverage? That remains to be seen," said Seca. "They're kids, but they've got big dreams. I don't blame them for wanting to advocate for themselves, which is kind of the interesting part -- it's the players speaking on behalf of themselves, wanting to get something started, it's impressive. I don't know what leverage it will create, but here's hoping."
Seca said Sting players feel the same way.
"There's highs and lows -- there's days that they are really optimistic, and there's days where we've had to help them through some tough times. We're obviously really concerned about, let's say, their mental health, but overall, they're pretty much in unison with the fact that they understand it's out of their control but they're ready to get going."
Seca said the league remains really optimistic about the prospect of getting back on the ice. He said all the dialogue that the OHL has received from the Ontario government is that things are trending in the right direction.
"We're optimistic because we've worked really hard throughout this last, now it's almost going on 12 months, to prepare ourselves and to prepare our players. So really the information that is shared with me is positive," he said.
In December, the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL) both announced the start of play had been delayed indefinitely as COVID-19 cases continued to rise across the province.
The petition notes that hockey is being played safely in the Quebec junior league, the NCAA and USHL, and that the Western junior league is planning to start an abbreviated season in the near future.
https://twitter.com/OHLHockey/status/1365020035194970116