No body contact or no return for OHL
Petes seeking clarity from provincial government on return-to-play rules for the pandemic with scheduled start date of season, Dec. 1, fast approaching
Lisa MacLeod created a stir when she said the Ontario Hockey League won’t be allowed to return Dec. 1 unless it eliminates body contact.
MacLeod, Ontario’s minister of heritage, sport, tourism and culture industries, told reporters Wednesday steps must be taken by the OHL — or any sporting organization in Ontario — to slow the spread of COVID -19, including removing close physical contact.
“It would be safe to say that body contact, unless it’s incremental, will not be permitted,” said MacLeod. “That would pose a challenge in terms of how they amend their play.”
Peterborough Petes general manager Mike Oke and coach Rob Wilson declined to comment Friday on the prospect of eliminating body contact.
The OHL stated it will not comment on ongoing discussions with the province, which is reviewing a return-to-play proposal submitted by the OHL.
Petes governor Dr. Bob Neville, who sits on the OHL’s executive council, said the league would need to better understand what MacLeod defines as body contact.
“In any other circumstance, I don’t think there would be any appetite at all (for this),” Neville said.
“If you want the game of hockey being played, albeit in a modified form, you have to look at your options. If that has to be an option, it might come to pass. It also has to be defined what you would call body checking.”
Even in girls hockey where body checking is illegal there is considerable contact, Neville said.
The province of Quebec gave $20 million to the QMJHL’s 12 Quebecbased teams to help the clubs operate without fans. MacLeod said the OHL hasn’t asked for any financial support from the province.
“I know for any league to play without fans creates significant financial hardship,” Neville said.
“The expenses are huge. It would be very difficult for us to play without fans without some support.”
There are other stumbling blocks for the OHL’s return to play.
Three of its teams are in the United States and having them cross the border would be a matter for Canada’s federal government to address.
“It’s as big a problem or a bigger problem than even handling the internal situation in the province,” Neville said.
“The border is likely going to be closed for quite a while. The options would be then do you bring those three teams to Ontario and have them embedded in some part of the province? We want to have all 20 teams in our league playing, not 17.”
Neville said the U.S. teams could play among themselves if there was a sign the border might open in the new year.
Neville wondered if border officials might permit teams to cross if they travelled to and from the game with no stops and no contact with anyone other than the opposing team and referees on the ice.
“If you promised to not get off the bus would that be satisfactory?” he wondered.
Further, the Ottawa 67’s and Mississauga Steelheads are in hot zones, where the second wave is at its worse.
Also, two QMJHL teams, Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Sherbrooke Phoenix, were shut down for four weeks with 18 Armada players testing positive for COVID-19.
“The events in Quebec and seeing the number of cases and positivity rate going higher are hurting our chances compared to a few months ago,” Neville said.
“The Quebec league I understand will continue playing with no fans. It will be difficult for the provincial government to let us have fans in the stands in the near future. There is going to have to be some sort of drop-dead date by which we’ll end up discussing whether Dec. 1 is a go or not,” he added.
“There are so many unknowns right now. I think Dec. 1 is certainly more challenging today than at any time.”