League Update

We met with our teams on Friday evening to prepare for the 2024 – 2025 season. Before the end of the month, we’ll share another update on this season’s teams and schedule. Your team needs your support, so we encourage you to contact them if you are interested in helping. Our hope and goal is to have teams return to every community we play in.

It’s important to address the situation that has occurred recently. Since we all live in small communities, we understand a team’s impact and how quickly rumours spread, primarily through social media. We want to provide information while also respecting privacy.

To start, we wanted to explain our league operational model. We practice revenue sharing, which means all funds that come into the league through our game gates and 50/50 are used to cover game expenses (ice, officials, security, travel, etc.). At the end of the season, the remaining funds are split equally between our teams. Any funds that teams raise by fundraising or sponsorship go directly to the teams. This model means there are no team owners. There are groups of people volunteering with each team to make everything possible, who we greatly value, and from those groups, each team names a team manager to vote on their team’s behalf at league meetings. Throughout the season, the league strongly supports any team who requires funding. We have successfully generated profits each year and continue to donate to local charities in our communities every season. Community contribution is enshrined in our constitution, which we take great pride in. 

Last season, however, we faced continuous internal conflicts and disputes within a few teams. This prompted a thorough operational review of the SSHL, particularly regarding concerns of player compensation and player tampering contrary to the constitution. At the end of the season, our Vice President resigned due to the toxic environment fostered by certain individuals. During the AGM, teams, through their managers, had the opportunity to propose changes to the constitution or leadership, yet no motions were made, and we proceeded with preparations for the upcoming season. However, just weeks after the AGM, internal conflicts resurfaced. 

One manager resigned due to mistreatment from another, and one was ultimately suspended and removed due to a serious breach of our Code of Conduct. Both then attempted to influence the league, stating, “It’s us or no hockey.” Their conduct was in clear violation of our Code of Conduct. While we attempted to resolve this internally, after members of the league executive have endured threats and harassment, we felt we had to address the situation publicly. 

Our only goal has always been ensuring hockey thrives for our local players and communities. As the league executive, we are not responsible for the day-to-day operations of specific teams. People involved in teams have devoted their time and commitment to these teams through volunteering—we are not diminishing these community contributions and acknowledge their workload. 

However, we still need to operate by rules and a constitution. We have stood firm in upholding our constitution and the principles of Hockey New Brunswick (HNB). Despite the intimidation tactics, we have followed the rules and moved forward. 

We look forward to working with the teams and ensuring they have everything they need to bring more great hockey action to our community fans. We all love hockey, and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone back in the rinks.