Efforts to resurrect TRU hockey program put on hold, says Olynyk

SPORTS — Efforts to resurrect the hockey program at Thompson Rivers University have been put on hold, says a Thompson rivers University spokesman.

A group of players and recruits, and their parents, began a campaign to keep the program alive after TRU cancelled its support two weeks ago.

In a letter published in The Armchair Mayor News on Sunday, TRU Wolfpack hockey player Cameron Weir said the cancellation left players with “very limited options, if any at all, if we want to continue our hockey careers.”

He urged the public and media to support team members in convincing TRU to change its mind and reinstitute the program.

Thompson Rivers University Athletic and Recreation director Ken Olynyk said today that’s not going to happen.

“I am not saying that the hockey program won’t come back in some form in the future,” said Olynyk. “But as it stands right now, any efforts to put a team on the ice for the 2014-15 BC Intercollegiate Hockey League season have ceased.”

The group plans to continue to speak with university officials over the coming months in an effort to reestablish the hockey program at TRU sometime in the future.