The Western Hockey League has announced the start date of their season will be Jan. 8, 2021.

A couple of months ago, the league had a target date for the first week of December, but bumping it ahead gives the league time to iron out details with provincial health authorities. 

The league announced that players will report to their WHL clubs after the Christmas break. Teams will play exclusively in divisions for the regular season, meaning the Warriors will see nothing but Saskatchewan and Manitoba teams.

The Moose Jaw Warriors sent out a letter to their season ticket holders and sponsors, alerting them to the potential for limited seating capacity once the games do get underway, the requirement for non-medical masks, cohorts in seating sections, and not congregating on the concourse.

Season ticket holders might not get to sit in their usual seats and spectators may be asked to remain in their seats unless going to the washroom or the concessions.  

The Warriors said these are potential protocols that may be implemented by the Saskatchewan Health Authority on the return to play and that nothing has been agreed to at this time. 

The Warriors also talked about their logo review, which sparked a lot of interest in social media. They reiterated that "no decision on the future of our primary logo has been made. This will be part of our process," the letter said. "At this time, only our primary logo is the focus of our review. We love our name, “Warriors”, and our traditional colours in our branding. The team will remain the Moose Jaw Warriors Hockey Club."

The decision to place the moose logo at centre ice at Mosaic Place this year was made before the formal review of the primary logo, and the Warriors said they will not replace their primary headdress logo with the moose logo. 

"For the 2020 - 2021 season, the team will be wearing our primary logo on our white jerseys, and the "Moose" logo on our black jerseys," the team said. "The decision to put the "Moose" logo on our black jerseys was made almost two years ago as we work 18 months out with our partner CCM on our jersey design each year. With this in mind, and to be creative with our branding, we decided for the first time to put the "Moose" logo at centre ice as opposed to our primary logo."

The team said they don't take the idea of a review of their primary logo lightly. 

"We very much appreciate the discussions, the comments, and the debates," the letter said. "We realized going into this process that everything would not be positive and it would create emotion and passion amongst our fanbase. We respect and appreciate all points of view. Ultimately, we ask that you respect this process and review as we engage in difficult discussions and we gather information and educate each other."

The Warriors business office is closed to the general public, but the souvenir store is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 to 5.