Blades and Rush on hold as WHL, NLL hit pause
Lacrosse, junior hockey, Hockey Canada pause operations as COVID-19 strikes
The Saskatchewan Rush and Saskatoon Blades schedules were put on hold after the National Lacrosse League and the Canadian Hockey League suspended their seasons in response to the COVID -19 pandemic.
The leagues on Thursday announced that they are halting play but not immediately cancelling their 2019-20 seasons.
The NLL said its schedule will not resume “until further notice.” The CHL — which includes the Blades’ Western Hockey League — said all activity within the WHL, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League “shall be paused immediately until further notice.”
The CHL in a statement said its three regional leagues “take the health and safety of our players, fans, volunteers, staff, and general public very seriously,” and that its commissioners have been monitoring the situation.
The NLL, in a statement, said it “will continue to evaluate this situation and remain in constant communication with health, team, business and league officials across North America ... Security and safety is our top priority and focus in these challenging and unprecedented times, and we will continue to provide updates on resumption and rescheduling of play as they are determined.”
The 13-team NLL has squads spread across North America, including five in Canada. Many players live outside the communities where they play, and commute to both road and home games.
“The National Lacrosse League has determined that it is in the best interests of our fans, our players, our coaches and our staff to temporarily suspend play until further notice due to concerns over COVID -19,” they said in their statement.
Meanwhile, the Western Hockey League’s board of governors met Thursday “to evaluate next steps for the WHL and its 22 member clubs in response to the COVID -19 pandemic.”
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, which currently is in playoffs, said Thursday night that starting Friday, “all games, and hockey-related activity have been cancelled, until further notice.”
Earlier in the day, the SJHL said in a statement that it “will currently continue its season as planned,” but the governing Canadian Junior Hockey League later said that its member clubs would shut down hockey activities. That includes the national-championship Centennial Cup, slated to be held in Portage la Prairie in May.
Hockey Canada announced Thursday that it’s stopping all sanctioned events effective Friday, a measure that includes everything under the Saskatchewan Hockey Association umbrella.
“The past few weeks have been difficult as we witness the world react and address the coronavirus (COVID-19),” the SHA said in a statement. “We agree with Hockey Canada that the health and safety of everyone connected to all sports is what our focus needs to be at this time.”
The stoppage includes all SHA provincial playoffs and Sask First programming.
In provincial soccer, two weekend matches slated for March 28 and 29 in Saskatoon between a
Saskatchewan selects team and FC Edmonton have been cancelled “due to the increasing threat that COVID -19 poses to public safety at larger public events and gatherings.”
The event was tied in with the SK Summer Soccer Series, and organizers say they’ll work with ticket-holders on refunds or credit for future matches.
Among the major sports leagues and competitions, the NHL and NBA this week announced the suspension of their seasons; the NCAA announced the cancellation of its March Madness men’s and women’s college basketball championships; soccer leagues around the globe have suspended play or contested games in empty stadiums; the women’s world curling championship and women’s world hockey championship were all called off.
The Rush — who lead the NLL’S West Division with a 7-3 record — were scheduled to play a road game against the Calgary Roughnecks on Friday, followed by a home date with the Georgia Swarm on March 20. Saskatchewan’s other scheduled remaining home games are April 4 against Rochester, April 11 against San Diego and April 18 against Calgary.
The Saskatoon Blades were scheduled to play on the road against Winnipeg on Friday and Brandon on Saturday, followed by a home game against Regina on March 18, a road trip to Prince Albert on March 20 and a home game against P.A. on March 21. The Blades have qualified for the WHL playoffs.
The Juno Awards, scheduled to be held this week in Saskatoon, were cancelled on Thursday. The first presumed case of COVID-19 in Saskatchewan was confirmed by the province.