NZIHF COVID-19 Announcement

NZIHF COVID-19 Announcement

The New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation (NZIHF) would like to advise the following changes to the NZIHL, NZWIHL and Youth Development Programmes and National Representative Camps scheduled for the upcoming months, as per official guidance from the New Zealand Government, in light of the recent outbreak of Covid-19 within the New Zealand community.

As announced today, 20 August 2021 at 3:00 pm; the Alert Level 4 status throughout New Zealand has been extended until at least Tuesday, 24 August 2021, whereupon the alert level will be re-evaluated.

With this new information in mind, the New Zealand Ice Hockey Federation (NZIHF) met this afternoon, along with management and players from the NZIHL and NZWIHL, to discuss the impact of the Alert Level 4 COVID-19 lockdown on various scheduled activities throughout New Zealand.

Changes to upcoming scheduled activities are listed below:

New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL):

  • Skycity Stampede vs. Botany Swarm series – Cancelled
  • West Auckland Admirals vs. Phoenix Thunder series – Cancelled
  • Canterbury Red Devils vs. Auckland Mako series – Cancelled

As per the agreement between NZIHL teams in the 2021 pre-season meeting, each of the series’ originally scheduled to take place will see the home team awarded one 5:0 win and the away team awarded one 5:0 win.

It was also decided that the NZIHL semi-finals and grand finals will be moved to later in the year, to increase the likelihood that these games can be played with fans present and without further disruption. At the time of writing, it is proposed that the games will be played as follows:

  • NZIHL Semi-Final: Proposed change to the weekend of 24/25/26 September in Auckland.
  • NZIHL Grand-Final: Proposed change to the weekend of 1/2/3 October in Queenstown.

Please note: the proposed changes to the semi-final and grand final schedules are not guaranteed and are based on the logistics of being able to reschedule these events, including suitable practice time for participating teams, ice time availability and flights and accommodation availability.

The NZIHF Management Committee will meet again on Wednesday 25 August 2021 to discuss the appropriateness of this decision, and based on the Alert Level status at this time, hope to confirm any required changes.

New Zealand Women’s Ice Hockey League (NZWIHL):

  • Round 2 of the NZWIHL 4-5 September in Dunedin – all games – Cancelled

The semi-final and grand final weekend scheduled for September 25/26 in Queenstown, will proceed as planned with the games remaining as the 2021 NZWIHL Semi-Final and Grand Final Games. The points table, as at 20 August 2021, will determine the placing of teams for these games.

NZIHF Youth Development Camp:

  • NZIHF Youth Development Camp 27-29 August in Dunedin – Cancelled

The final Youth Development Camp for 2021, scheduled to take place in Auckland on October 22 – 25 October is currently proceeding as planned.

Other Activity:

In early September, the NZIHF Management Committee will meet to discuss the following activity, however, at this time the below activity is proceeding as scheduled:

  • National U15 Representative Tournament – 1-5 October
  • National U18 Representative Tournament – 8-12 October
  • National U12 Representative Tournament – 15-17 October

We are saddened to have to cancel some of our events. The NZIHF are aware of the impact these decisions will have, however, the uncertainty caused by the recent outbreak of Covid-19 has necessitated these difficult decisions. The health and safety of our players, volunteers and fans is our priority and therefore paramount during this time.

Previous 2021 Under 9 & Under 12 National Tournament Announcement

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