BUBBLE TROUBLE FOR JUNIORS
Positive tests hit Germans, Swedes
After 33,394 coronavirus tests with no positives and 81 games with healthy hockey players on the ice in Edmonton for the Stanley Cup playoffs, the bubble burst for the IIHF world junior event before the teams managed to get out of quarantine.
The players on the 10 teams arrived Sunday and were all supposed to get out of quarantine Friday. But not all made it to the ice to begin practices.
Eight members of the German team, Canada's first scheduled tournament opponent on Boxing Day, have tested positive and the entire team has been forced to remain in quarantine until Christmas Eve.
That puts the entire tournament in jeopardy for the nation that provided the NHL'S leading point-producer and Hart Trophy-winner in Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers.
The Germans were schedule to open the tournament on Christmas Day against Finland after playing a pair of pre-tournament games against Austria and the Czech Republic.
There was no indication if Tim Stuetzle was one of the German players that tested positive.
Stuetzle, the No. 3 pick overall of the Ottawa Senators in the recent NHL Entry Draft did a TSN interview via Zoom Thursday from his hotel room, mentioning that Draisaitl had talked to the team via Zoom and making no mention of any positive tests or anything but excitement about getting on the ice to play for the first time since March.
The German players were not alone in recording positive coronavirus tests.
In addition, two staff members from Sweden, a team that had to leave four players and the majority of their coaching staff at home, also recorded positive tests. And now we know why the IIHF, citing “protocol,” refused to actually make an official announcement following a media relations member sending a comment, under a IIHF logo letterhead, to your correspondent that read:
“Everybody who boarded the planes have been successfully tested at least three times during the last week. Testing will be continued in Edmonton and there haven't been any positive test results since arrival.”
That was 48 hours after arrival. Team Germany shared a short-range jet that required fuel stops in Iceland and Goose Bay with Team Switzerland and the Zurich-based IIHF staff.
Friday morning as Team Canada headed to their 10 a.m. practice at Rogers Place, Team Germany did not do the same for their practice scheduled at the same time at the Community Arena in the same complex.
Instead the IIHF issued a release saying that 2,000 tests of all 10 teams and tournament officials had resulted in 10 positives, including eight players from Germany and two staff members from Sweden.
The IIHF release said a five-member panel of Canadian and international medical experts reviewed each case on an individual basis and decided that Team Germany would remain in quarantine until Christmas Eve and Team Sweden will remain in quarantine until Dec. 21, with the exception of players and staff who are exempt from serving a longer quarantine period based on previous positive COVID-19 tests that provide a personal immunity and no threat of infection to others.
Canada is scheduled to play Sweden in their first of two pre-tournament games on the afternoon of Dec. 21.
The IIHF event co-chairs Luc Tardif and Frank Gonzales have not responded to email inquiries and would not make themselves available to media on a Zoom call Friday despite requests.
Prior to the tournament, when asked what it would take to shut the tournament down and send everybody home, an IIHF source said it would go ahead.
The rosters for each team were expanded from 23 to 25 for the tournament. But a team would not be allowed to play missing eight of the 25.
On a normal year, Germany would be in danger of being relegated and replaced by another nation next year but the IIHF, as a result of no competitions involving other nations due to the pandemic, ruled that the same 10 teams would return for the Edmonton-red Deer replay of the tournament next year.
After releasing the statement, the IIHF returned to being unavailable for comment until further notice.
There are a few obvious questions.
Like would Germany's two pre-tournament games be cancelled. And would their Christmas Day game or Boxing Day game against Canada be rescheduled?
“They are reworking the pre-tournament schedule but math would tell you yes,” said Paul Graham, vice-president and executive director of TSN who has been preparing to telecast all 38 games, including two each per team both nationally and internationally this season.
The math would suggest Austria and Switzerland would end up playing each other instead of Germany.
When it comes to the big picture, whether Germany participates or not is certainly not the big deal it would be if it were one of the top six nations in the tournament.
But it takes the focus away from the other teams. And the IIHF is looking like a dysfunctional organization the way they've handled this so far.
The players on the 10 teams arrived Sunday and were all supposed to get out of quarantine Friday. But not all made it to the ice to begin practices.