No fighting, no bodychecking, no spectators? Questions remain as OHL training camps draw near

Exactly what the 2020-21 Ontario Hockey League season will look like continues to be a major question.

Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s sport minister said in an interview with TSN’s Rick Westhead that the league could be looking at banning fighting and bodychecking when play resumes.

“The fact is that you can’t have physical contact right now,” MacLeod said. “We certainly will not be allowing people to be body checking at the moment. We are trying to contain a healthcare crisis.”

MacLeod also said that fans at games isn’t an option at this point either.

“I don’t see that happening at the moment,” MacLeod told Westhead in remarks shared by the TSN journalist via Twitter. “The last thing we want is to open and then have unintended consequences that put the safety and well-being of the athletes, spectators…and others at risk.”

The Ontario Hockey League may have to ban fighting and even body-checking as a condition of resuming games, provincial sport minister Lisa MacLeod told me in an interview.
(The OHL has said it hopes to open training camps in mid-Nov and begin its regular season Dec. 1.)

— Rick Westhead (@rwesthead) October 1, 2020

A request was made for further comment but, at the time of writing, MacLeod had been unavailable.

Citing ongoing discussions with the provincial government, OHL commissioner David Branch declined comment.

In a phone interview on Monday morning, Soo Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis said he couldn’t comment on MacLeod’s comments.

“You read different things and different ideas,” Raftis said. “I’m not sure what those conversations between the league, the government, and health officials have been at this point.”

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League opened regular-season action on Friday night.

The league moved to a three-division format this season to cut down on travel with teams only playing within their division with each having six teams.

Quebec-based teams are currently playing games in empty arenas while the six teams based in the Maritimes are playing with a percentage of seats being used.

The provincial government in Quebec has announced though that it is prohibiting sports in designated red zones in the province.

At the time, the decision affected two teams in the league, the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and the Quebec Remparts.

"Following the Quebec government’s announcement to prohibit the practice of sports in the designated red zones, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League wanted to express its disappointment with this decision," the league said in a statement.

"Since the beginning of training camps at the end of August, the conduct of our activities has been above reproach. The return to play protocol was approved and applauded by public health officials in Quebec and by the three Maritime-based provinces in which the league operates. It has been hailed as thorough and effective," the statement also said. "As a matter of fact, the League would like to congratulate the players and team staff members for their flawless execution.

"Over the course of the next few days, we will share with Quebec public health officials additional measures which will render the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada’s and Quebec Remparts’ bubbles even more secure. We hope that these new directives will be well-received by Quebec’s health agency. The QMJHL is convinced that these additional measures will go above and beyond what is required to protect our players, staff and officials and enable all of our teams to continue playing."

The league also announced on Monday afternoon that a player from the Armada has tested positive for COVID-19.

The Armada and the Sherbrooke Phoenix, who played against the Armada over the weekend, has been forced to suspense hockey-related activities as a result.

In a release, the QMJHL also said the players and staff of the Armada are now being isolated and tested.

Raftis said Monday that he’s still hopeful when it comes to the OHL starting training camps in mid-November as planned.

“I’m pretty optimistic still,” Raftis said. “When you look around, whether it’s in the Sault and certain areas where a lot of OHL teams are located, they’re still doing well in terms of case numbers. It’s something that we’re going to need an ok from the government and health officials before we get anything going. Talking to our players, everybody is excited about (getting started).”

Though it hasn’t been a typical off-season, Raftis said the team is moving along in preparation for training camp in November.

Though camps are six weeks away, some questions still need to be answered as the team moves forward.

“Last week we had a Zoom meeting with our prospects from the last two drafts,” Raftis said. “We’re keeping in communication with everybody. At this point, usually in a regular summer, you would have what your training camp is going to look like.”

“Right now, we’re not sure on numbers that we’re going to be allowed to bring in,” Raftis added. “It’s tough to extend invites to players because I would hate to send it and then have to renege on it. Some teams have said they’re only bringing in signed players and that caused some questions from other players. We haven’t made a decision. We want to give everyone the experience of coming to training camp, even if it’s going to be a little altered, but at the same time, we have to wait and see on that.”