No one saw this one coming. It was the last game of the 2019-20 regular season when news came out that there would be no playoffs. It was in fact the last game we would play for a long time.
A global pandemic, Covid 19 shut down the world. Lock downs became the health authority's strategy of choice as they struggled to find a way to control the spread of the virus. Businesses were forced to close, people were told to stay home, protests and riots erupted - eventually, even Christmas was canceled. But nothing hurt the Cowboys more than being prevented from playing hockey.
After a long, painful summer of no hockey (for the first time in Cowboy history) September arrived and still we could not put on our skates. Then finally, on the last day of the month they allowed us to return to the rink under extreme restrictions: limited time in the dressing room, no showers and worst of all no beer in the dressing room. Cruel and unusual punishment, but at least we were back on the ice... for a while.
After just 5 weeks, like a bad referee, the Public Health Office shut us down again. We managed to get one more skate in a month later on Dec lst 2020 before they blew the whistle on us again for longest world-wide suspension ever. And so we wait, hoping and praying to be able to skate again...
The Cowboys 2020-21 season was the shortest in history, lasting just 6 games. But after an agonizingly long off-season, by June 2021, the arenas finally began to re-open and Cowboys Summer Hockey returned joyously. By September hockey season was on again... for those willing to be vaccinated. That excluded a few, but most were willing to roll up their sleeves in hope that we could put a stop to this evil virus.
The vaccine worked... for a while. Case counts began to drop and hockey was back in full swing, with a few inconveniences, such face masks to enter the building, no showers and limited time in the dressing room. That nonsense eventually stopped, but the virus didn't. It mutated into a playful little illness they called Omicron. It didn't matter how many doses of vaccine you had, this one was going to get you. Miraculously, health authorities did not shut us down!
Game cancellations due to illness were to be expected, but somehow the Cowboys managed to keep playing, not because we didn't catch the virus though. On one Thursday morning in January after game night one of the players reported they had tested positive. One by one the calls and emails came in. 90% of our team either tested positive or were showing symptoms and we were all forced into the required 5 day isolation period. By the next game we were all back on the ice!
Covid 19 changed a lot of things. Some teams folded, the RIHL was decimated down to just 3 teams, but the Cowboys got stronger! We finished the season 1 game under .500 best season in years!
I guess it's true when they say "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". The Cowboys are stronger than ever, but more than that we have a new appreciation of just how important this hockey club is to us.