PollWatch: Tell us where COVID is, Theo belongs in the Hall and shut down Major League Baseball

A look at some of the more interesting results from the MooseJawToday.com polls

It should come as little surprise that the vast majority of those polled on want to see Theoren Fleury in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

What folks think about the NHL returning to play and the precise location of COVID-19 cases in the province might come as a surprise.

All three issues were subjects of poll questions over the last week, and all three had definitive answers.

With regards to the former Moose Jaw Warriors standout and his long quest to be bestowed with hockey’s highest honour, asked ‘Does Theoren Fleury belong in the Hockey Hall of Fame?’ in June 26. Of the 180 votes cast, over 66 per cent – 119 total – answered ‘Of course!’

And for good reason.

The Warriors and Legends Hall of Fame member had one of the most storied careers of any player in the NHL through the through the 90s and early 2000s. In addition to winning the 1988 World Junior championship, Fleury had his name carved onto the Stanley Cup in 1989 and would go on to also win the 1991 Canada Cup and gold in the 2002 Olympics.

His stats are off the charts: twice he put up 100-points plus in a season, and four times hit 90 points, and finished his career with 455 goals and 1,088 points in 1,084 games. Numbers that are similar to or exceed players currently enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

A total of 41 voters said ‘No. He was good, but I don’t think he was good enough’ and 20 replied Hockey was also the subject of a question on June 22, asking ‘Several NHL players have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. Should the league scrap its plans to return to the ice?’

Once again, the answer was clear.

A total of 106 of the 151 votes cast said ‘Yes! It’s not worth the risk!’, a 70.2 per cent margin.

At the time of the poll, 11 NHL players had tested positive for the disease, a number that has risen to 26 as of July 1.

Just under a quarter of voters, 22.5 per cent, said ‘No, I’m sure it’ll be fine’ and 11 voters said ‘I don’t know.’ The most clear-cut of the week’s polls came on June 29 with the question ‘Does it matter that the provincial government does not provide the exact location of COVID-19 cases?’

An overwhelming 236 of 290 voters – or 81.4 per cent – said ‘Yes! I would like to know if there are cases in our community.’ A total of 50 said ‘Not really, I’m being cautious regardless’, and four said ‘I don’t know.’ Saskatchewan is one of the few provinces that doesn’t reveal where cases are found on a community-by-community basis, releasing that info only if there is currently an outbreak or the potential of one.

Examples include the most recent cases June 29 in Emma Lake, the Hutterite outbreak on June 17 and La Loche outbreak in late April.

New polls are posted every few days, so make sure to check often and make your vote count!