Two Winnipeg junior teams flout restrictions

MJHL squads sneak out of town for practice

The body that governs amateur hockey in Manitoba is looking into two Manitoba Junior League teams that violated COVID-19 restrictions this week.

The Winnipeg Blues and expansion Winnipeg Freeze, both under the same ownership group, went undercover to hold full practices outside the city on Monday.

Booking their practice times under the name, “Laker Academy,” a local hockey academy run by former Western League and University of Manitoba player Larry Woo, the Blues and Freeze took to the ice in the town of Warren on Monday afternoon.

Video footage shows upwards of 20 players and coaches, including Woo, on the ice during each team's session.

The video was uploaded and stored at livebarn.com, which carries live looks at amateur sport facilities across Canada and the U.S.

The move violates provincial health orders, the MJHL's own restrictions and Hockey Manitoba regulations, which had tightened a full seven days earlier, barring such gatherings.

Hockey Manitoba executive director Peter Woods confirmed the organization is looking into the matter, but declined further comment.

MJHL commissioner Kevin Saurette said the matter would be discussed “internally,” acknowledging it's been a “challenging time” for the league.

“Each organization has made a monumental effort to provide a safe environment for players with the mental/physical well-being always being at the forefront of every decision,” Saurette told Postmedia in a text message Tuesday night.

He went on to commend “all MJHL players and staff ” for their commitment, given “all the expectations that have been placed upon them” this season.

Postmedia put in calls to Blues governor and coowner Matt Cockell and head coach/GM Taras McEwen, as well as Freeze head coach/GM Josh Green, but none were returned. A call to Woo produced the same result.

A statement on the league's website said teams were told about the travel restrictions.

“This was the direction provided to all member teams internally and was outlined in a statement made publicly Monday by the MJHL,” the statement read, in part. “As such, any hockey activity that takes place outside the above Hockey Manitoba restrictions for regions identified as Critical (Red) is not permitted and is not sanctioned by Hockey Manitoba, the governing body of the MJHL.”

The violations come as the province's COVID numbers continue to skyrocket, and overwhelmed healthcare professionals beg for help and action.

Dr. Brent Roussin, chief public health officer for Manitoba, says officials have heard of several similar instances of people trying to find ways around the regulations by relocating their activities to areas with lesser restrictions.

The two junior A teams appear to be prime examples.

On-ice sessions in Warren, with local-area players and coaches, may not have been against the public health orders that Winnipeggers are living under, but travelling to get around those rules is.

“Anyone who tries to work outside these rules right now, you're putting other Manitobans at risk,” Roussin said.

It appears the Blues and Ice were well aware of the orders and tried to disguise their practices under another organization's name.

The scheduled practice times on Monday, and others booked under the same name for Tuesday and Thursday of this week, were wiped from the arena's online schedule in the middle of the day on Tuesday.

Both MJHL teams are owned by the same company, 50 Below Sports and Entertainment, that owns the Western Hockey League's Winnipeg Ice.

The MJHL had begun play this season, but games involving the Winnipeg teams were shut down Nov. 2.

With the entire province moving to Code Red on Thursday, the rest of the league will also be sidelined for at least a month.

Kevin Saurette