Officials probe reports linking COVID cases to hockey tourney

State and local health officials are investigating reports that multiple teens tested positive for COVID-19 after participating in an elite Connecticut hockey tournament several weeks ago.

As of Monday evening, they had yet to find any in-state cases associated with the event, according to Michael Pascucilla, director of the East Shore District Health Department.

But Pascucilla, whose district includes North Branford, home to one of the rinks where the tournament was held, added that it’s still early in the investigation — he only learned of the situation Friday, through media reports, he said.

A Massachusetts teen who participated in the “War at the Well” tournament between July 31 and Aug. 2, held at rinks in North Branford and Hamden, tested positive for COVID-19, the Boston Globe reported.

Av Harris, a spokesman for the

Connecticut Department of Health, said Monday he was working to gather information but did not have details.

“We’re looking into it and we are working collaboratively with local health directors to see if there are any Connecticut cases,” he said.

Connecticut Hockey Conference President Chuck Wilkerson said the CHC did not sanction the tournament.

“I will say, we’re the governing body for Connecticut for USA hockey, and this event that took place, in question, was not sanctioned by us,” he said. “It was a private event run by private operators that brought teams in from everywhere. We had no jurisdiction. … We don’t have a lot of information other than what’s out on social media.”

A COVID-19 waiver for the tournament lists the Northford Ice Pavilion and Hamden’s Louis Astorino Ice Arena as the tournament locations.

The Coaches Choice Hockey

Group, which organized the tournament, did not respond to requests for comment.

Tournament players and spectators had to sign waivers saying they had not experienced COVID-19 symptoms, tested positive for the virus or been in virus “hotspots” prior to the event, according to the War at the Well website.

The waiver also said the Coaches Choice Hockey Group would not be held liable for any exposure to COVID-19.

Bill Maniscalco, who manages the Northford Ice Pavilion, said the rink rented ice to an outside group for the tournament and informed that group of its COVID-19 protocols

“We actually provide masks for everyone who doesn’t have one,” Maniscalco said. Face coverings are required at the rink, which allows only one guardian or spectator per player, according to Maniscalco.

The facility also is sprayed with disinfectant twice a week, he said.

“We followed all the CDC protocols here,” Maniscalco said. “The guys that are here disinfect every locker room and bench.”

Debbie Roos, office manager for the rink, said no hockey league or association had contacted the rink about the positive cases, which she thought would be “common courtesy.”

The Louis Astorino Ice Arena, owned by the city of Hamden, could not be reached Monday.

Omar Cabrera, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, could not confirm the details of the Globe report but said the department was aware of the situation and coordinating with other states to investigate.

A statement from a New Hampshire rink, where the Globe reported the Massachusetts teen attended a clinic after playing in Connecticut, indicated that other cases may have been linked to the tournament.

The teen, a 14-year-old, had been at the Rinks at Exeter for a private camp run out of the building on Aug. 3 and 4, according to the statement.

Prior to the camp, the boy attended “a tournament in Connecticut on July 31st- through August 2nd,” per the statement, which did not specify the name of the tournament.

“His family was notified on Tuesday, August 4 that teammates he played with in Connecticut had tested positive for COVID-19,” at which point he was immediately removed from the Exeter camp, the statement reads.

The Rinks at Exeter, whose general manager did not respond to requests for comment, learned Aug. 10 that the boy had tested positive for COVID-19.

Hamden Mayor Curt Leng and the Quinnipiack Valley Health District, which serves Hamden, did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

The tournament’s earlier games, scheduled between July 17 and 19, took place at Champions Skating Center in Cromwell, online sources indicate. The rink manager did not return a request for comment Monday afternoon.

That arena closed less than a week later due to mechanical issues, per a July 26 report from Eyewitness News.