Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “.
As the global pandemic continues, it continues to muddle, that is, there seemingly is no straight line nor straight answers nor a correlated pattern of proceeding.
From a hockey standpoint, here’s what I mean, ( and keep on mind some of this is fact, some of this is fiction, some of it is pure speculation from the people I’ve talked to who are connected to the various teams in our broadcast region )
The Ontario Hockey League has maintained their Return To Play date is February 4th.
I believe that, but I’ve also heard whispers that there may be another bump, and March may become the new start date.
From an Owen Sound standpoint it’s difficult to imagine the Attack hosting games among the hospital beds at the Bayshore or that with rising COVID-19 numbers the Ministry of Health would remove those beds…
I’ve also heard a faction of OHL teams are willing to take their losses and not operate, rather than operate and lose even more money.
The National Hockey League start date is January 1st.
I don’t believe that after Commissioner Gary Bettman stated the launch date was a ” work in progress ” and the league continues to fidget with both COVID-19 and the financial tug of war with the Players Association,
Would the OHL start before the NHL ? Not this year, I don’t think.
Transportation for Junior Hockey clubs at every level is primarily by bus.
The Collingwood Blues of the Ontario Junior Hockey League are attempting to set a sequence of games with Trenton. However, the word is the town of Trenton won’t allow buses from out of town into their community.
Would the Blues players drive cars to these games if scheduled ?
The Knights of Meaford of the Greater Metro Junior Hockey League contacted their transportation carrier and were told a maximum of 11 people could be placed on a bus, maybe a few more if the people were from the same household.
That sounds kind of nutty, especially when you see 40some kids piling onto a school bus.
Interestingly, the GMHL had games scheduled in Ontario last week, but only between teams within the same health unit. Meaford is the only team within the Grey Bruce Health Unit umbrella and thus, they sit in limbo.
The Knights did have a game scheduled with South Muskoka but that’s been wiped off the league web page. The local belief is that South Muskoka has folded for the season.
And talk of hub centres and bubble concepts are heard everywhere in Junior Hockey, some of it real, some of it conjured up during this extended down time.
Of course, this doesn’t apply to hockey alone. We’re all in limbo and we’re all confused about what’s fact, fiction or speculation.
I’m Fred Wallace