EOSHL, Rivermen plan on finishing season

ARNPRIOR – The West Carleton and the 11 other Eastern Ontario Super Hockey League (EOSHL) are working on a plan that will allow them to finish a season just past the halfway mark when the latest COVID-19 provincially mandated lockdown hit.

The EOSHL owners and general mangers met via video conference last Thursday (Jan. 20) to discuss the issue.

“With the news from the Ontario government yesterday (Jan. 20) we are hopeful we can get a regular season done,” EOSHL President Mitch Gagne released in a statement. “This will take a few days to have each team follow up with their arenas to make sure protocols all around the league are all met, and scheduling can be performed to complete an 18-game regular season for each team.”

The league hopes to announce by the middle of this week a revised schedule if all objectives are met to move forward.

The Rivermen played their last game on Dec. 18, a feisty 3-1 win. What was supposed to be the holiday break ended up being a much longer COVID-19 forced break.

The Rivermen currently sit third in the EOSHL West Division with eight wins, five losses, two overtime wins and one overtime loss. The top for teams from each division make the EOSHL playoffs and with four games left on the proposed schedule, the Rivermen have a 10-point lead over the Deseronto Bulldogs (3-7-0-1-1) who sit in fifth in the six-team division. The Smith Falls Rideaus (13-1-0-1-0) sit in first in the west and the Tweed Oil Kings (9-2-0-2-0) is in third.