WEST LEBANON — Organizers have canceled the annual Make-a-Wish All-Star Hockey Classic, the latest summer high school all-star game to succumb to the coronavirus pandemic.
The girls-boys doubleheader featuring top Vermont and New Hampshire senior ice hockey all-stars had been scheduled for June 27 at Stowe (Vt.) Arena, a change from the classic’s traditional home at the University of Vermont’s Gutterson Field House. Ongoing renovation of UVM’s athletic facilities forced the move to Stowe, but the pandemic ultimately shut the event down.
In a Wednesday afternoon email, game co-chairman Cathy Foutz cited “COVID-19 and the necessary restrictions placed on indoor recreation facilities, and the prohibitions of contact sports and gatherings of groups of people” for the decision.
Several Upper Valley athletes had been slated to play. Lebanon’s Jon Cloud was to join his coach, Jim Damren, on the New Hampshire boys roster. The Granite State girls included Hanover’s Meredith Morhun and Marissa Pickman, a two-year standout on the Lebanon-Stevens-Kearsarge cooperative team. No Hartford or Woodstock athletes were selected for the Vermont rosters.
The pandemic had previously claimed the Twin States’ summer lacrosse, field hockey and soccer showcases.
All that remains of the schedule are two football games, both on Aug. 1: the Shrine Maple Sugar Bowl at Castleton (Vt.) University and the CHaD East-West Game at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. The latter was rescheduled from a late June date by the pandemic.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.