By Ryan Laverty /
The costs will be substantial to be sure, but CAC Gregg Distributors Canadians head coach Tim Fragle is hopeful the benefits of the Alberta Midget Hockey League adopting a 34-game interlocking schedule will far exceed the prices at the pump.
With the AMHL now spanning from as far south as Lethbridge and Medicine Hat to the far reaches of Grande Prairie, league executive made the call that for the first-time the regular season schedule will feature one home and one away game between every team in the province.
“For us to rent buses we’re talking about $12,000 in cost, so that’s a substantial increase and that’s going to have to be paid by our parents,” Fragle explained. “But on the other hand I think it could be a real good thing for the teams up north.”
Fragle said historically teams from the AMHL’s south division have been able to ice older teams, as many 17-year-old players tend to stick around for their final year of Midget while many AAA players from the north have had the tendency to forgo their final season to join the Junior ranks.
“When we get to playoffs every year you can see that their are usually four legitimate contenders coming out of the south because they are a little bit older and a little bit bigger than some of the teams around here,” said Fragle. “The travel could take a bigger toll on those teams this year because a team from Lethbridge is going to have to make a 10-hour drive up to Grande Prairie on Friday for a game on Saturday and then they’ll still have to make the four-hour drive back to the city to play a team around here.
“We’ll see what happens, but I have a feeling that could change things a bit by the end of the year.” |
