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Blast prepare for unknown

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The Brantford Blast don’t know when or if they’ll play hockey this season.

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But general manager Tony Falasca says the Allan Cup Hockey team will be ready when COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

“We want to play,” said Falasca.

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As of right now, the league has set January as a start date but Falasca said he is uncertain if that is when the season will start or when teams will begin practising.

If things do get underway in January, it will be almost a full year since the Blast played a game.

When COVID hit in March, the Blast were facing the Hamilton Steelhawks in the best-of-seven ACH championship series. The Blast had knocked off the Dundas Real McCoys 3-2 in an opening round best-of-five series and trailed Hamilton 2-0 in the final.

Falasca said the team was in “complete shock” when things were halted.

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“We were down 2-0 but we had some key players that could play from that point on. Not to take anything away from Hamilton but we were short-staffed.”

Falasca said he would have liked to have seen the Blast’s full roster against a complete Steehlhawks team.

During the early stages of the pandemic,  he proposed finishing the series by using Stoney Creek’s Gateway Ice Centre.

“I know the city rinks were all shut down,” said Falasca. “Being Gateway is a private facility, I could have got ice time there. I said you bring your team, I’ll bring my team and let’s finish the season.

“They wouldn’t let us do it. I really wanted to finish the season.”

Falasca soon turned his attention to the 2020-21 campaign.

He said the team is in good shape, with most of the roster expected to return.

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After a one-year hiatus, the Blast returned to ACH last season. It was the first year for Falasca after he and the Stoney Creek Generals moved to Brantford.

“The players that played last year in Brantford absolutely loved it,” he said. “They loved the arena, the atmosphere and the fans.

“We got a tremendous amount of support.”

He noted that the team averaged about 600 fans a game at the civic centre.

“It blew me away,” he said. “I didn’t think we were going to come close to that.”

Whenever the season starts, the league will look different.

The Whitby Dunlops, arguably the most recognizable name in the league, have taken a one-year leave of absence.

They will be replaced by the expansion Caledon Crusasders, who will play out of the Mayfield Recreation Complex.

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“We’re happy with the new team but we’d like to see Whitby in there,” said Falasca.

“This league will grow. Our new commissioner, Tom Strauch, is working with two or three other franchises as well.”

Last season was supposed to finish with teams from across the country coming to Hamilton and Dundas to compete for the Allan Cup Hockey Canadian senior A championship.

Although Hockey Canada has cancelled 2020-21 events, such as the National Women’s Under-18 Championship, Canadian Tire Para Cup and the World Junior A Challenge, Falasca is holding out hope that the Allan Cup can go in April.

“I’d like to see an Allan Cup,” Falasca said.

“That’s what you play for. Ultimately it’s going to be up to Hockey Canada to make that decision.”

ICE CHIPS . . . The annual Spengler Cup tournament that is held during Christmastime in Switzerland has been cancelled and the Greater Toronto Hockey League has halted all its minor hockey programming until the new year . . . The Brantford Minor Hockey Association, Brantford Church Hockey League and Brantford Girls Hockey Association are all proceeding with caution.

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