Petition by former NHL player putting pressure on province to resume junior hockey

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — A former Canuck has started a petition to put pressure on the province to allow the BCHL and WHL to return to the ice, saying young players are suffering on the sidelines.

Garry Valk, who played two seasons in Vancouver and 13 in the NHL, says junior hockey leagues have been playing safely in other provinces and in the states, and there’s no reason players in B.C. can’t do so safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He says he started the petition to draw attention to how the young players have been affected by the ongoing shutdown of these leagues a voice.

“I’m just trying to give the kids a voice,” he says.

“I’ve talked to so many junior hockey players that are struggling mightily. They’re in reclusion, they’ve lost their dream, they have no future and they are struggling. My job is to try to give these kids a voice and a hope because I lived my dream. I played 13 years in the NHL. If I would have lost a year or two at 18, years old, I would have never made it. So I’m trying to really help these kids out right now.”

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Valk’s son plays for the Trail Smoke Eaters in the BCHL and has seen the impact of the current rules first-hand.

“He was struggling mentally by himself in Trail, can’t leave his billet family’s house can’t go to the mall can’t do anything, nobody can visit him,” he explains.

The thousands of signatures supporting the petition have given Valk’s son’s spirits a boost.

“It really pumped up his, his mental health for sure just reading all the names that are supporting him.

Youth mental health matters. Please help get BC kids back on the ice.
Please sign and retweet to get the message out before it’s too late!
Thank you for your support! ⁦@GoBCHL⁩ ⁦@TheWHL⁩
⁦@BCHLSmokeEaters⁩
Community Petition Platform
https://t.co/Ex9VjSErWO

— Garry Valk (@garryvalk) February 26, 2021

The frustration of not being able to play is compounded by the fact that other players have returned to the ice. The WHL, for example, was granted approval to return to play in Alberta last month. Teams based in that province opened their season Friday.

“B.C is the only province without a return to play protocol for the Junior-A-aged hockey players. Every other province has a return-to-play protocol in place. Many of them have started up already, British Columbia is the only one, which makes it incredibly hard to just sit back and try to understand the reasoning — because there is none,” he says.

“They need to start thinking about these kids’ mental health, taking it seriously. Get them back to playing the games they love, even if it’s for a couple months. It’s very very important for them. They need to be able to live their dreams out.”