GM Place is dark, but Brennan Park Arena will still be hopping with some fast, clean hockey this fall.
The Howe Sound Men's Hockey League is ramping up for its 26th season with four teams and a renewed sense of fair play.
"It was getting rough about five years ago," said Steve Hadden, the Flyers' goalie for about 15 years.
Limbs were being broken and players seriously hurt, so the teams were dissolved, and all the players were drafted.
"It's a lot more friendly game," Hadden said. "The animosity is definitely not there now."
The league plays no-hitting, but contact is fair, and the game is still tough and fast.
"It had to come. We all have to work in the morning," Hadden said.
There are four teams, the Flyers, the Red Wings, the Predators and the Chiefs and a total of about 56 men in the league. It's a long way from when the league started, when there were about 20 teams and multiple divisions.
Ice time pressures may be responsible for the drop-off in teams.
"The ice times are way worse now," Hadden said, pointing out that priority is given to the many younger hockey teams. The men's teams play late in the evenings, which has also resulted in fewer people watching.
"You were getting the fans out," in the old days, he said. "The hockey has always been pretty good."
There have been players from junior leagues play in the past, and a player from the Western Hockey League's Regina Pats, so the skill level is fairly high.
"It's for anybody wanting to play fairly competitive hockey," Hadden said.
This year, the league is especially competitive. The four teams are evenly matched in terms of skill, and there is no clear leader.
"I believe this year they'll be more even," Hadden said. "I have no idea who will be on top or bottom."
"Every game we go out we're going to have to play our best."
The Flyers are the league's defending champions with 39 points for the 2003 season, and the Red Wings were second with 35. The Chiefs were at the bottom of the league in 2003, with 15 points.
The season started Friday night (Oct. 1) with the Flyers falling 6-0 to the Predators. The Predators goalie, Paul Savage, shut the Flyers out.
"It doesn't happen very often in our league," Hadden said.
On Saturday (Oct. 2), the Red Wings and Chiefs tied 5-5.
Play continues this week with the Flyers playing the Chiefs at the Brennan Park arena Friday night (Oct. 8) at 9:55 p.m. On Wednesday (Oct. 13), the Chiefs and Predators face off at 8:45 p.m., and the Flyers and Red Wings play at 10:30 p.m.
