Icing the puck: Idaho Steelheads hockey season done in by COVID. Here’s what we know
Idaho’s professional ice hockey team won’t be playing until next fall.
The Boise-based Idaho Steelheads announced in a news release Monday that they will not participate in a 2020-21 ECHL season because of the spread of the coronavirus throughout the state and nation. The team plans to return next October for the 2021-22 season.
Idaho’s current Stage 2 restrictions bans any gatherings of more than 10 people. That makes it economically infeasible for minor-league teams like the Steelheads to play as they rely on fans for nearly all of their revenue.
“This was a difficult decision to come to as we wanted to be able to play this season, but because of the continued increase of COVID-19 in the Treasure Valley and United States, we felt our best option was to start preparing for a season in the fall of 2021,” said Steelheads President Eric Trapp in a news release.
The team, an affiliate of the NHL’s Dallas Stars, who lost in the Stanley Cup Finals this year, will be in communication with season ticket holders and corporate sponsors in the coming days, according to the release.
With the Steelheads suspending their season, all players on the team are immediately free agents for 2020-21 under the terms of the bargaining agreement between the league and the Professional Hockey Players’ Association.
The ECHL announced in August that it would delay the beginning of this season, moving opening day from October to early December because of the coronavirus. Play is expected to start this weekend for the teams not opting out — and the Steelheads are not the only franchise doing that. ECHL teams in Cincinnati and Kalamazoo, Michigan, also will not play this winter.
Despite the suspended season, Trapp said in the news release that he looks forward to the puck dropping next October.
“The future of the Idaho Steelheads is bright, especially with the new improvements to Idaho Central Arena,” Trapp said in the release. “We will be back and fighting for another ECHL Kelly Cup very soon!”
The Steelheads, who have made the playoffs in every season as a member of the ECHL, won the Kelly Cup in 2004 and 2007.
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 12:14 PM.
