WHL now playing defence on threat of coronavirus
With pandemic declared, league complies with Wash. state crowd-size regulation
REGINA Commissioner Ron Robison struck a calm but cautionary tone with regard to the WHL’S evolving coronavirus strategy.
“Our priority is always the safety of our players, staff, fans — everyone associated with the league,” Robison said Tuesday night. “We’re working very closely with the various health authorities in both Canada and the United States as well as our facilities to make sure that we put the necessary preventive measures in place to the full extent.”
The World Health Organization confirmed Wednesday that COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic.
Shortly thereafter, the WHL announced that it would comply with a decision by the state of Washington to ban gatherings of more than 250 people in the Seattle area.
As a result, the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips will close upcoming home games to the public.
Washington is reportedly the hardest hit state in the U.S. with 367 confirmed cases and 30 deaths as of Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, neighbouring B.C. had the second-most confirmed cases in Canada (39, including one death). Ontario had the most with 41. There were 14 in Alberta and none so far in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The WHL has five teams in B.C., five in Alberta, five in Saskatchewan and two in Manitoba, along with five in the U.S. (four in Washington, one in Oregon).
The league is hoping for the best and preparing for the worst.
“Right now it’s isolated to certain regions within the Western Hockey League,” Robison noted. “It’s a day-by-day, hour-by-hour situation. We have Washington State and B.C. that we’re monitoring very closely to determine what additional measures are being taken in those locations.”
The Regina Pats, who played host to the Winnipeg Ice on Wednesday, have just five games left this season. The team concludes its home schedule on March 20 against the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The Pats’ farthest remaining road game is Saturday in Winnipeg.
Robison said he doesn’t anticipate venues being closed in the Regina area.
“Not at this point,” he said. “It’s a developing matter that we’re following closely and certainly in areas where the virus is more prevalent. At this point in time we have no plans for any special situations but we’re ready in the event that a position is taken by any of the health authorities or the municipalities concerned.”
The WHL sent out a media release Tuesday detailing some measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. That includes advising players and club personnel to maintain good hygiene practices, such as regular and thorough washing of hands with soap and water, or cleansing with alcohol-based sanitizers.
Players have also been told to minimize direct contact with fans, teammates, officials and opponents. That includes handshakes, high-fives, autographs and sharing of towels and water bottles.
Several major sports leagues, including the NHL, NBA and MLB, have announced in recent days that team dressing rooms will be limited to essential personnel. The WHL already prohibits media members from entering its dressing rooms.
The league also has some experience with virus outbreaks in recent years, including mumps (2017) and H1N1 flu (2009).
In addition, the WHL had a player in 2014 (Tim Bozon) who contracted meningitis.
“Our primary concern now is just educating everyone to take the necessary steps and use the recommended best practices that have been offered to us through the health agencies,” Robison said. “The NHL has been very co-operative as well. (It’s important) to make sure we get this information out as quickly as possible and then we’ll just continue to monitor and hope that it doesn’t spread to other areas within our region.”
Multiple North American-based sporting events have been closed to the public or cancelled in recent days. The latter includes the 2020 world women’s hockey championship, which had been slated for March 31 to April 10 in Halifax.
Robison said he hadn’t yet been informed by the International Ice Hockey Federation or Hockey Canada of any changes regarding the world under-18 championship (April 16-26 in Michigan).
The 2020 Memorial Cup is to be played May 22-31 in Kelowna, B.C.
“One thing that is important to distinguish is the domestic events are much different than the international events,” Robison said. “You have teams coming from abroad whereas in our case we’re staging events within our own country, so it’s not as immediate of a concern as it would be with international travel.”
Our primary concern now is just educating everyone to take the necessary steps and use the recommended best practices that have been offered to us.