MJHL pausing hockey until 2021

WINNIPEG — The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) has officially paused hockey until next year due to the new Code Red restrictions now in effect throughout the province.

With Manitoba now in critical (red) level on its pandemic response system, and expected to remain at that level until at least mid-December, the league has decided to suspend all hockey activities until January 1, 2021, depending on public health orders at that time.

The MJHL was one of the first junior hockey leagues in Canada to restart this fall, until Winnipeg went into code red on Nov. 2 following a surge in COVID-19 cases, affecting three of its teams. Games involving those teams were immediately postponed before the league decided on a two-week break at the conclusion of last weekend.

The latest decision comes after reports the Winnipeg Blues and Winnipeg Freeze tried to bypass level red restrictions, appearing on LiveBarn.com to have travelled to nearby Warren for practice on Monday evening, which was at response level orange at the time.

Hockey Manitoba told CTV News on Wednesday it’s looking into the situation, but did not provide further comment.

CTV News has reached out to the MJHL for comment.

-with files from CTV's Charles Lefebvre