The last report from the Hawks social media news updates confirmed a trade deal between Hawkesbury and Gatineau’s Flames junior A hockey club for a player exchange.

Hawkesbury got Michael Stegmann, the older brother of Luke Stegmann, from the Flames for its roster now for the 2020-2021 season. Now the Hawks and their coaching staff are just waiting for the Central Canada Hockey League (CCHL) to confirm the actual dates for the pre-season exhibition series and the first days of play for all teams in the CCHL’s regular schedule. The situation is complicated by the current COVID-19 pandemic situation.

CCHL Commissioner Kevin Abrams stated just before the start of the Labour Day long weekend in September that the league is “working closely” with Hockey Eastern Ontario (HEO) on the return-to-play policy for the 2020-2021 season. That discussion includes consultation with all four regional health units where the 12 CCHL members teams are located.

In mid-July the CCHL announced a target date goal of October 1 for the start of the regular season schedule. That target date hinged on getting “the necessary support and approval” of regional and provincial health authorities and also the HEO.

Since then the CCHL has changed October 1 to the target date for the pre-season exhibition games schedule. Final confirmation of that also depends on approval from regional and provincial health authorities.

As of September 29 there were no further updates yet on the season start situation on the CCHL website or on the Hawkesbury Hawks website. This may indicate that all parties are still working on the pandemic safety protocols needed for start of the 2020-2021 hockey season.