There will no longer be weekend Senior Men’s AA Hockey doubleheaders at Fuller Lake Arena for the South Island Knights.
The club has reduced its schedule to single games due to low fan turnouts for Sunday afternoon contests. The Knights will now only be playing on Saturday nights at home.
“Nobody’s going to show up on Sundays, we can’t fund it,” reasoned Knights’ captain and organizer Jon Hollett of Chemainus. “I’m also the one covering the losses and I can’t do it anymore, unless we’re hosting a playoff series.”
The Knights were in Powell River for a meeting with the Regals Saturday and lost 3-2 in a shootout.
Goals were scored by Ben Woywitka and Jamie Russell, with Rob McNutt providing stellar goaltending.
Knights’ games are normally much higher scoring.
“It was a pretty tight defensive game, for sure,” said Hollett. “We had to sit back with the numbers we had.”
The Knights had just 11 skaters - seven forwards and four defencemen. Hollett was back on the blueline after a stint at forward during a previous set of games against North Island.
The Knights stayed overnight in Powell River due to the ferry schedule, but did not play a second game Sunday. Other teams are also restricting the schedule to single games, although the Knights expect to play two at North Island in February.
The Knights host Powell River in a rematch Saturday, Nov. 25 at Fuller Lake Arena. Game time is 7:30 p.m.