THUNDER BAY — The Superior International Junior Hockey League will return to play on Sept. 17, 2021, whether the U.S. border is open or not.
The league released the new season schedule on Monday in the anticipation that the United States will reopen its border to Canadians by Oct. 8.
That's when the first Canada-based SIJHL team is currently slated to play a U.S.-based team.
"We jigged the first couple of weeks of the schedule to have our U.S. teams staying there and our Canadian teams playing exclusively here for the first three weeks, so we don't need a team to cross the border until Oct. 8," league commissioner Darrin Nicholas told TBNewswatch.
Nicholas said the SIJHL also has a contingency plan in the event the U.S. keeps its border closed.
The seven-team Junior A league is marking its 20th anniversary this season.
Each team will play a 48-game regular season schedule consisting of four home and four away games against each opponent.
The final games before Christmas break will be played on Saturday, Dec. 18, with the schedule resuming on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022.
From Feb. 8 through Feb. 10, the SIJHL Showcase will take place in Spooner, Wisconsin, the home of the Wisconsin Lumberjacks.
Each team will play two games, but there will also be a special top prospect event.
The season wraps up on Mar. 26, 2022, and the SIJHL Bill Salonen Cup playoffs will begin on Apr. 1.
League members include the Thunder Bay North stars, the Kam River Fighting Walleye, the Dryden GM Ice Dogs, the Fort Frances Lakers, the Red Lake Miners, the Thief River Falls Norskies and the Wisconsin Lumberjacks.
