For former Ravens men’s hockey defencemen C.J. Garcia, the emotions of the last month are raw.
“It was just to the point where I couldn’t waste another year of not playing hockey,” Garcia said.
Garcia shared this sentiment with four other former Ravens players who have left Carleton and signed professional contracts elsewhere. The departures follow a decision by Ontario University Athletics (OUA) to postpone all programming until Jan. 24 amid rising COVID-19 cases.
This shutdown has been extended to Jan. 27, as the Ontario government placed a ban on all indoor sports activities until then. While “elite amateur sport leagues” are allowed to continue operations, the OUA was not designated as elite, to the frustration of many.
The actual layoff for athletes may be longer, as additional training will be required before competition resumes, OUA president and CEO Gord Grace said in an open letter.
Garcia signed with the Anglet Hormadi Pays Basque of France’s Ligue Magnus, while forward Cole Carter signed with HC RT TORAX Poruba of the Czech Republic’s Chance Liga. Forward Cody Caron and defencemen Jeremy Masella and Andrew Jarvis signed with teams in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL).
Caron joined the Cincinnati Cyclones, Masella joined the Kalamazoo Wings and Jarvis joined the Allen Americans.
“When that news [of the OUA shutdown] came through, I decided that to benefit my career, it would be a good opportunity for me to play pro,” said Garcia, a communication and media studies graduate. “I’ve only played six games this year and the season was basically halfway done. I was already graduated too.”
Garcia criticized the provincial government for not considering the OUA elite.
“It shows that the government and the OUA don’t really know what they have,” Garcia said. “The OUA has produced high-level athletes in every sport that are competing in the Olympics or competing in pro sports across the world.”
Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen shared Garcia’s frustrations with the provincial government.
“It’s disappointing. We think we’re an elite team,” Van Allen said, noting Carleton’s success against pro teams on a trip to Europe in 2019. “Our guys go on to play pro hockey [and] some work their way up to the second-best league in the world, the [American Hockey League (AHL)], so to me, all that screams elite.”
Carleton alumni in the AHL include François Brassard, who played for the Ravens from 2016 to 2019 and made his AHL debut on Dec. 29, 2021 for the Hartford Wolf Pack, an affiliate of the NHL’s New York Rangers.
Adding to frustration with the OUA shutdown is the fact the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) is allowed to continue play, despite many OUA players being former OHL players as a result of the OHL scholarship program. The program provides post-secondary funding for every OHL player.
“At the end of the day, people just want to play the sport they love,” Garcia said. “I think the government is taking a little bit too much [of a] precaution because they’re letting the OHL play but most of the OUA and U Sports are major junior players so it doesn’t really make sense.”
For Masella, a Phoenix, Ariz. native, the United States’ relaxed pandemic restrictions make Ontario’s heavy-handed approach all the more frustrating from an athlete’s perspective.
“Life goes on, sports go on, school goes on, everything goes on down [in the U.S.],” Masella said. “It’s frustrating to see because Ontario taking all those sports away from the people … makes it difficult on people’s mental health. It makes life a lot harder when there are restrictions like that put in place.”
Despite the challenges of being university athletes this season, Garcia said he is thankful for his time at Carleton.
“It was probably the best four-and-a-half, five years of my life,” Garcia said.
Masella spent only four months with the Ravens and had just one in-person class but also said he was grateful.
“It’s definitely something that I’ll remember forever. It was probably the most fun four months of my life,” Masella said.
With Carleton in the rear-view mirror, the players are excited to get back to playing hockey and pursuing bigger goals.
“Long-term, I think I’ll have the capability to grow and hopefully get to those next leagues faster than I would have if I stayed in school,” Masella said.
Meanwhile, a large hole has been left in the Ravens lineup in leadership and skill. Van Allen said he expects the void will be filled by those coming up.
“When you lose good players and good leaders, it’s going to affect you, but you wish them all the best,” Van Allen said. “You look at some other guys who have an opportunity to step up and play a more meaningful role.”
The departing players credited Van Allen and the coaching staff for being a part of their success. Van Allen was quick to return the favour.
“They’re really good people and you can’t have a good program without good characters,” Van Allen said.
Featured image from file.
