by PAUL RAYNER

It may look and operate a little different, but the South West Hockey League is off life support, and with a little help from a neighbouring league, local senior hockey survives in 2007/08.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, negotiations settled a deal between the truncated SWHL and the Tiger Hills Hockey League. Although still operating as separate entities, the two loops will integrate on the ice, making a full schedule for the three remaining local squads.

“It may not be perfect,” said Ken Pringle of the Boissevain Border Kings, “but it is better than not having hockey.”

In a release from SWHL president Glen Tosh and THHL president Wayne Deschower, the deal is laid out. For one season on a trial basis, the three remaining SWHL teams – Boissevain, as well as the Souris Elks and Deloraine Royals – will join the eight teams of the THHL for an interlocking schedule for the regular season. Each team will play every squad for a home and away series, giving the 11 teams a 20 game schedule. However, the two leagues will continue to exist separately. Points from the interlocking games will count in both schedules. Each league will present its own trophies for scoring leaders, MPV and the like, and playoffs will be separate – the eight teams of the THHL will compete for their championship and the three in the SWHL for theirs.

Pringle said there is an element of confusion in the situation at this point, mainly coming from the playoffs. With only three teams in the South West, they have not yet settled the format. It could be a round robin, or the first place squad could get a bye to the final.

“It may be a little confusing to people. We haven’t sorted out the playoffs right now, but all of this was done in the last 48 hours. You have to walk before you run.”

The situation arose due to long term problems with keeping teams alive and participating in the SWHL. These became a crisis when the Reston Rockets applied to join the more convenient North Central League. A more limited interlocking schedule with THHL was negotiated, in part to deal with Reston and other teams’ concerns regarding playing each other too often. However, Reston was accepted in the other loop, and chose to stay there. This put a lot of pressure on the executive and remaining squads in the local league.

One option was for the three clubs to simply join Tiger Hills. However, the neighbouring league, whose teams are located in Holland/Treherne, Pilot Mound, Killarney, Crystal City, Swan Lake, Carberry, Wawanesa and Gladstone, has a decidedly northern and eastern bent. One concern the THHL people had, Pringle said, was the difficulty of long travel in the playoffs. A first round series between say Deloraine and Gladstone could be a back breaker. The solution offered, however, is important to Pringle.

“I give a lot of credit to them for giving us options,” he said. “They did not get us into this predicament. I was not too surprised by this solution, because they already accepted the interlocking schedule. But they didn’t have to do it. They were stronger than we were. You feel thankful they did it. Our president worked hard on this, and their president worked hard to get the other teams to accept it.”

As for the operation of the schedule, Pringle feels it should work well. More variety in the rink should build up interest and excitement.

“I look at this as a great opportunity to build a little variety. Everyone will see each team in their rink. There is an opportunity to build new rivalries. It gives both leagues more variety in who they play.”

Pringle added although it is on a one-year trial basis, more developments for the future are possible. For example, he said he would like to see a playoff between the two league champs at some point.

The schedule of who plays whom when still has to be worked out, but play is projected to start the first weekend in November. It is a little earlier than the SWHL traditionally gets out of the gate, but Pringle feels the Kings, who will be coached behind the bench by Jason Billaney this season, should be ready on the ice. They are also trying to re-start the draft and hat pools to get everything going on time for the opener.

“We will have to get prepared more quickly. But the advantages certainly outweigh the disadvantages. At mid point last week, I would have thought we wouldn’t play. You know when you let the program go, it is harder to get it going again. I didn’t like the odds, but this is a godsend.”