New to the VIJHL for the 2017/18 season, a VIJHL TV time-out.
For many Island fans, it was at the Cyclone Taylor Cup in Creston that they first witnessed this strange break midway through each period.
At the first stoppage in action, not involving a penalty or icing, after the 10 minute mark of the period, the officials will call a one minute time-out. This break won’t impact the traditional 30 second time-out each team is guaranteed.
According to VIJHL President, Barb Byrne, “This is a great idea that can assist the teams and the officials. It’s a great strategy for assisting Officials in bringing teams under control and allowing coaching staff to better communicate with their players.” This isn’t the first time the league president has witnessed these time-outs, “after seeing this in play at the last Cyclone Taylor Cup and working with it during my WHL time, I believe this will be a great addition to our games.”
Wes Roed, the Campbell River Storm Governor, saw the usefulness of the time-outs when his club was at the Cyclone, “having witnessed the effective use of 1 minute time-outs at the CTC, I thought it worthy to bring this idea to the Board of Governors for consideration.”
Wes sees the key advantage of the new time-out is in player development, “from a coaching perspective, what coach wouldn’t want to have 3 extra time-outs per game to keep the boys on track.”
The Board of Governors liked what they heard. According to Wes, “much to my delight, the board passed this proposal to be implemented this season.”
Josh Lockhart, whose ‘Nitros Night in Kimberley’ blog is a mainstay of the KIJHL Dynamiters’ website, says the timeouts have benefits, “it gives the players, fans and webcasts a breather and allows the webcast crew and arena announcer to share sponsored commercials.”
Game 1 of the VIJHL regular season kicks off on September 1 in Campbell River when the Storm host the Oceanside Generals.
*Article from the VIJHL Website