Rink Closures Cause 'Disappointment And Dejection' On North Shore

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Matt Sachar drove to hockey practice this past Thursday looking forward to another fun night of learning on the ice similar to most others in the Salem-Swampscott Youth Hockey Association since rinks reopened for tryouts nearly two months ago.

By the time he walked into the building, however, he found out that he was going to have to be the bearer of some very unfortunate news for his players after the state announced that starting the next day all hockey rinks were to close for at least two weeks due to coronavirus outbreaks the state said could be traced back to games and gatherings surrounding youth hockey.

"As I relayed this information before practice," Sachar told Patch, "I could see the disappointment and dejection on both our players' and parents' faces. There was a very somber mood in the building that night."

The doors were locked at midnight, and will stay that way until at least Nov. 7. As coronavirus case counts rise across the state and the country, the hope is this will be only a temporary pause and not the type of extended shutdown of rinks that cost the coaches and players the spring and much of the summer.

"Unfortunately, the hockey gods were not 100 percent aligned with Governor (Charlie) Baker and we will be taking (by mandate) what we all hope will only be a brief reprieve from the ice," Marblehead Youth Hockey Association President John Payne said in announcing the shutdown on the program's social media page. "I'd like to thank all our members — participants, parents, coaches our Board of Directors — for doing their best to manage and comply with out of our new hockey protocols for the greater health and safety of our community.

"As we all know, hockey is a fast game and a lot can change during the course of a period. Let's keep our feet moving and carry on with strong sticks as we move forward. Fingers crossed that this is just a break between periods in our 2020-21 season."

While Payne told his players to be on the lookout for dry-land training opportunities over the next two weeks — and perhaps beyond if the shutdown is extended — Sachar said it is the youngest players in the Salem-Swampscott Blades program who are losing out the most due to the restrictions this fall and current moratorium.

"One of the most troubling issues we face as an organization is not being able to hold our Learn-to-Skate and Learn-to-Play programs," he said. "Since the Salem State University rink did not open this year, we lost some valuable ice time that we had always used to introduce kids to skating and hockey, and to develop our program for the future.

"Sadly, a whole bunch of local 4- to 8-year-olds, who are the ideal stage of growth and development to learn to skate, will be behind where they should be. We are still hopeful that we will be conducting these classes at some point this season. However, we will be limited in the number of participants permitted on the ice at one time in order to comply with (state) protocols."

Sachar said that Salem-Swampscott Youth Hockey uses its scheduling phone app to keep attendance for each game so there is a record of who was there if contact tracing is necessary. While he said there have been no confirmed cases of coronavirus within the Salem-Swampscott program's 10 teams, he allowed that not all programs across the state have been as disciplined.

"Unfortunately, a very small number of youth hockey players, parents and coaches were having trouble following the guidelines and protocols set forth by the Commonwealth, which is the reason for the shutdown," he said. "We, the SSYH Board of Directors, have been working diligently to stay abreast of the most current state-issued guidance and protocols relating to youth hockey, and have been continuously communicating such policies to our players and parents."

Payne asked his players and parents to keep following the protocols during the time they are forced off the ice with the hope that will allow them to get back on skates as soon as possible.

"Let's keep the 6 (feet of social distancing)," he said. "Let's keep our collective helmet on and stay as positive as possible.

"It's disappointing news, but we'll it through this."

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Massachusetts Suspends Hockey For 2 Weeks Following COVID Spread