Oil Barons prepare for upcoming season, assuming health regulations will let one happen

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The Oil Barons are scheduled to face the Grande Prairie Storm on Sept. 18, kickstarting the 2020-21 season. That is, assuming provincial health orders allow a season to start this fall.

The AJHL announced a tentative schedule for the season on Friday. The schedule has been designed with predetermined blocks of games that can be removed, should the season be delayed.

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If all goes well, the first home game for the Oil Barons will be Sept. 25 at the Casman Centre, when they face the Bonnyville Pontiacs.

“You’re obviously hopeful for all kids that hockey comes back at some time, but everything is just unknown right now,” said Gord Thibodeau, head coach for the Fort McMurray Oil Barons. “There’s so much changing that you can’t be sure day-to-day what’s going to transpire.”

Despite the possibility of a delayed season, Thibodeau believes the team will still play some hockey this year.

“Do I think we’re going to eliminate the whole season? No I don’t,” he said. “I think at some point we are going to get back to playing. It’s just a matter of when.”

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Thibodeau said the team can begin their training camp on Aug. 28. Health and safety protocols are being developed, and will include as much physical distancing as possible on the ice, inside dressing rooms and during workouts.

The Oil Barons were eliminated from last season’s playoffs just days before COVID-19 measures began in Alberta, cancelling the rest of the season and creating a need to approach the offseason differently.

Thibodeau said he’s spent a lot of time in front of his computer for meetings, virtual recruiting and preparing for the upcoming season.

“It’s thrown a wrench into camps and your recruiting has really taken a beating because you’re not able to look at kids live,” he said. “But everyone’s in the same boat, and if that’s what we have to do to stay safe then obviously we’re going to follow that protocol.”

The Oil Barons have signed multiple players this offseason, including forwards Joe Clark, Clarke Huxley, Joshua Russell, Ethan Anstey and Aidan Moore.

New players on the blue line will include Brendan Wang, Rider McCallum and Jack Wolder.

Fort McMurray’s own Max McCoy is also joining the team. McCoy spent the last two seasons with the Okanagan Hockey Association’s Edmonton Midget Prep Team. Last season, he played 29 games and got 58 points.

Forwards Nickolas De Beurs, Brendan Kuny and Hassan Akl, as well as defenceman Jordan Hendry, will join the team following trades made last season.

A schedule for the exhibition season is coming in August. Tickets for the Oil Baron’s regular season are not currently on sale, as what the seating capacity might look like is still unknown.

It is also not known when fans will be allowed back into the stands. Major sporting events will be allowed to continue under the third stage of Alberta’s relaunch strategy, although some restrictions will still apply.

“It’s hard to predict where we’re going to be, but we have confidence that—working with the government and working with Hockey Alberta and Hockey Canada—we’ll find our way through this,” said Thibodeau.

lbeamish@postmedia.com