A new senior men’s hockey league is coming to Nova Scotia. It may not involve elderly players hitting the ice, but it promises to bring a new high level of hockey back to the province.
The Nova Scotia Hockey League is for players 20-plus years old and has been in the works for five years, says league president Gerard MacDonald.
“Working with Hockey Nova Scotia has been wonderful, wanting to get this off the ground,” he says. “We finally put everything together.”
The league is launching this fall, featuring eight teams and a 20-game season.
Since officially announcing the league Tuesday, MacDonald says they’ve already had 33 applications for teams across the province.
“This is a community-based hockey league,” he tells CTV News. “We want the locals, they’re going to be living here, they’re going to be working here. They’re already here. They’re going to be your plumbers. They’re going to be your night crew at the grocery store.”
For the first time since 1998, this senior ‘A’ league will provide a competitive, full-contact opportunity for those with nowhere else to go.
“Watching fourth-year junior hockey players who are really in their prime being told there’s nowhere to play in this competitive game anymore really stuck to me,” MacDonald says.
The news is already making rounds at local rinks.
“It keeps guys around here that are working jobs, that still want to play that level without moving to another province,” says Rick Scott, who was playing a game of pickup hockey Wednesday. “You’re at home every night with the family and the kids, and you can run a job so that the competitiveness and the edge that we’re all looking for to playing the highest level is still an option.”
Tyler Noseworthy left Nova Scotia after his junior hockey days to continue playing in the United States and Australia. Now, he has a chance to play in the Maritimes again.
“Honestly, I think it’s been something that’s been missing,” he said.
“I’ve coached for a number of years here; I kind of get the itch a little bit to go play.” he says.
Noseworthy says, if the given the opportunity to play in the league, he “certainly will give it a go.”
MacDonald adds the opportunity is an exciting one to offer.
“I believe it’s the last of ‘passion hockey,’” he says. “It’s hard-hitting, it’s fast. And it’s your neighbour that’s playing.”
The puck drops for the inaugural season Oct. 24.
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