SYDNEY, N.S. -- Many arenas across the Maritimes were empty on Thursday.
For most, hockey is on hold with COVID cases on the rise.
Angie MacDonald’s son plays minor midget for the Cape Breton Jets and she’s concerned the season could be cancelled altogether.
"I think there would be a lot of disappointed people, and I know he’d be definitly one of them," MacDonald said.
At the Atlantic University Sport level, the season never got off the ground.
A return to play committee was put in place with plans to begin games after Christmas.
All of that is now sidelined.
"We’re in the business of creating opportunities for student athletes, not taking them away," said Phil currie of Atlantic University Sport."Obviously, it’s a painful thing when we have to make these types of decisions."
Major junior hockey had been playing in their own bubble, with Maritime teams facing off against each other.
Right now, the season is on ice as teams wait for direction from the league.
The president of the Cape Breton Eagles says it’s been hard to stay focused and keep fans engaged.
"It’s hard to keep the players focused," said Gerard Shaw."They’re coming to the rink with a lot of unknowns and the older guys its years where they want to have their best years and to get an opportunity at another level."
James Edwards is the president of Glace Bay Minor Hockey, one of only a handful of minor hockey associations still on the ice.
"Cape Breton, I’ve heard said, is the safest place in the world right now, and I’d like to keep it that way," Edwards said.
Teams no longer travel across the causeway for competition and Edwards says it will stay that way as long as cases continue to rise on the mainland.
"We want to continue to play and we want the kids to continue to play," Edwards said.
For now the fight and strongest competition remains the virus, one all sports teams are trying to overcome together.
