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Victoria Royals GM and head coach Dan Price and former Royals coach Dave Lowry, now bench boss of the Brandon Wheat Kings, texted each other over the weekend. It was the usual exchange many in the Western Hockey League are having.

It’s the big freeze of rink ice again after the big freeze-out. The first two junior hockey games on the Island since March took place this weekend at the Q Centre. It wasn’t even pre-season — but an exhibition set before the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½

Island sports fans were ­expecting to see the likes of Greek basketball superstar and two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bayern Munich’s Canadian soccer prodigy Alphonso Davies perform live in international events this year.

The new age of cohort competition has come to the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Hockey League. The Island Cup pre-season tournament will begin with the Victoria Grizzlies, Cowichan Valley Capitals, Nanaimo Clippers and Alberni Valley Bulldogs in a cohort.

Everybody is banking on better days in spring. But the Victoria HarbourCats are preparing to be ready if the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½-U.S. border remains closed long term.

The Pacific FC players watched the CPL final Saturday on TV back home after six weeks in a bubble on an island on the other side of the country.

The venerable Jackson Cup has been contested since 1915.

The participants in the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Premier Baseball League Zack Downey Memorial Tournament, taking place Thursday through Sunday at Layritz Park, received an added bonus.

Island players Olivia Boulding and Emoni Bush don’t have too far to look for recent inspiration as they pursue their Olympic dreams in volleyball.

Much of the off-season talk in the Canadian Premier League is set to swirl around Pacific FC’s left-footed marksman Marco Bustos.