(File photo/paNOW Staff.)

By Jeff D'Andrea

COVID-19 hockey

Hockey and all other team sports suspended until Dec.17

Nov 25, 2020 | 5:45 PM

As part of the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s new restrictions, released on Wednesday, all team sports and group physical activities have been suspended until at least Dec.17. Saskatchewan now joins the rest of the Western Canadian provinces who have put a large-scale suspension on team sports.

“There is a risk of transmission, even if you are following all the guidelines,” Saskatchewan Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said at a media briefing. “There would be occasional transmission at events but over the last two weeks, they were becoming so frequent. They were resulting in, for example, children’s sports [with] multiple cases being imported into schools and adult sports, multiple cases being imported into workplaces.

“It was really important to have that pause for three weeks to slow down transmission in that setting.”

For sports like hockey, the suspension will actually extend to the New Year, as there was already a wash-out period planned for Dec. 17-31. That will continue to be in place, meaning the return for hockey will likely be near the start of the 2021 calendar year.

Although the move is a big one, it didn’t come as a total shock.

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“I don’t know if it was totally unexpected, everybody has seen our numbers going up,” Prince Albert Minor Hockey Association technical director James Mays told paNOW on the COVID-19 cases rising in the office. “We were hoping that we could hold on until the middle of December when we had the planned shutdown already… but I guess now our reset will be a little bit earlier.”

Since Nov. 13, there have been nine different outbreaks in the province in sports teams or sports facilities.

In Prince Albert, two outbreaks were announced on Nov. 13: the U18 Prince Albert Bruins and Global Sports Academy, the hockey camp partnered with the Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division.

“They have a couple of kids that were tested, so as a precaution, they’re self-monitoring for a prescribed period and doing everything they’re supposed to do,” Mays said. “For Global, it’s different. It’s kind of a hockey thing but it really isn’t—it’s a school class. It’s part of Sask Rivers and Carlton’s curriculum. It’s Global’s class, but it could easily be geometry or algebra, right?”

Four other hockey teams have had outbreaks. On Wednesday, the Cherries Senior Men Hockey Team suffered an outbreak; on Nov. 23 it was among the Assiniboia Senior Rebels hockey team; Fort Knox of the PJHL on Nov. 22, and the Balcarres Broncs senior hockey team also on Nov. 22.

In addition, three sport facilities have suffered outbreaks, the Highland Curling Club in Regina on Nov. 20, the Swift Current Curling Club on Nov. 19 and the Swift Current Pickleball Club on Nov. 13.

Dance and fitness

Athletes and dancers 18 years and younger can continue to practice in groups of eight or less if they abide by the required mask use guideline and are at least three metres away from other participants.

Fitness activities and group fitness classes of eight or fewer can continue to be permitted, as well.

Bears head into pause in third place

The Prince Albert Northern Bears head into the pause as the third-place team in the Saskatchewan Female U18 AAA Hockey League. They have eight points through four games (two regulation wins, one overtime win, one regulation defeat), after having swept the Battlefords Sharks last weekend.

Bears head coach Jeff Willoughby supported the suspension, wanting hockey to return at some point.

“Hopefully this will help it go away,” Willoughby said. “It’s the right decision… hopefully it will be back to normal sooner rather than later.”

Mintos played only half of their games before the pause

The Prince Albert Mintos had trouble getting on the ice, as four of their eight scheduled games were cancelled. They were 1-3 before the freeze happened.

Mintos manager Kalen Wright said it almost felt like it was a day-to-day situation for the last month or so.

“It’s hard, it’s difficult. The kids just want to play, the families just want to watch the kids play. I want to be at the rink every day. But we support whatever the government’s decision is to make the province safer,” Wright said.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW