Dale Hawerchuk, the quiet NHL superstar, died on Tuesday, his battle with stomach cancer having taken him at 57. . . . Here’s Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun: “The superstar who struck so many people with his humility reached out to a bunch of them over his final 72 hours. To say goodbye, and to tell them he loved them. Serge Savard, Teemu Selanne, Jeremy Roenick and many others received a call nobody wants to get, but one everybody who got will cherish.” . . . Scott Arniel, perhaps Hawerchuk’s best friend, talked with Friesen about his long-time friend and all the memories. That’s all right here and it’s wonderful.
The QMJHL will open its 51-game exhibition schedule on Sept. 1 and wrap it up on Sept. 26. It plans on opening its regular season on Oct. 1. . . . Each of the league’s 18 teams will play four, five, six or seven exhibition games. . . . According to the league, the Gatineau Olympiques, Halifax Mooseheads and Charlottetown Islanders “will play all of their preseason games in a neutral site as their buildings are currently not available.” . . . QMJHL teams are opening training camps on Aug. 30. . . . I haven’t been able to find a blanket statement, but it would appear that fans won’t be permitted at any of the exhibition games.
The MJHL announced on Wednesday that it is planning to open its 2020-21 regular season on Oct. 9. Training camps are to open on Sept. 18 with each team having 34 or fewer players on hand. . . . Each team will be permitted to play three exhibition games, with none of those against out-of-province teams. . . . From the MJHL news release: “Players/Staff and Officials are required to wear face masks while entering/exiting and within the arena for MJHL sanctioned activities while not on the ice. . . . Players/Staff are required to wear face masks while traveling to and from games (on the bus, entering/exiting restaurants and hotels, etc.) . . . Members of the public are strongly encouraged to wear face masks while in any MJHL facility during MJHL activity while following all necessary distancing and facility guidelines.” . . . The MJHL hasn’t yet released its schedule, but it did say that the schedule “will be significantly modified to mitigate risk of spread or potential contact between multiple teams and to allow for minimal disruption of the schedule in the event of a positive COVID-19 case.” . . . The complete news release is right here.
In a move aimed at saving money, the U of Alaska-Anchorage announced on Wednesday that it will be eliminating four sports, including hockey, after the 2020-21 season, whenever it may happen. . . . Also to be cancelled are men’s and women’s skiing and women’s gymnastics. . . . Meanwhile, the U of Alaska-Fairbanks issued a news release stating that it doesn’t have any plans to reduce the number of athletics programs that it supports.
COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .
Mikele Colasurdo, a freshman QB with Georgia State, revealed Thursday that he won’t play this season because of a heart condition that was diagnosed after he had a run-in with COVID-19. . . . He didn’t get at all specific about the condition, but myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, has proven to be a potential after-effect from the virus. . . .
The U of Notre Dame’s football team has had five players test positive and has quarantined six others after contact tracing. . . . The team is to experience another round of testing today (Friday). . . . Earlier this week, Notre Dame dumped in-person learning for remote instruction through at least Sept. 2. There have been 304 positive tests since students returned to campus. . . .
The group that oversees high school sports in Saskatoon’s secondary schools has cancelled all sports this fall. That takes care of football, soccer, volleyball and cross-country. . . . On top of that, the city’s two school divisions — Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools and Saskatoon Public Schools — have cancelled all facility rentals, including gymnasiums, for the remainder of this year. . . .
The Manitoba Soccer Association has informed all members that it “has been notified that an individual involved with the youth soccer community in the Winnipeg region has tested positive for COVID-19.” . . . According to the MSA, public health officials now are doing contact tracing. . . .
The NFL’s Seattle Seahawks will play their first three homes games — Sept. 20, Sept. 27 and Oct. 11 — without any fans in CenturyLink Field. “While we are hopeful that conditions will improve as the season moves forward,” the team said in a statement, “we will continue to follow the lead of public health and government officials to make future decisions about having fans in attendance.” . . .
MLB has had to dump more games, this time because the New York Mets have experienced positive tests. . . . The Mets have had one unidentified player and one staff member test positive. . . . The Mets were to have played the host Miami Marlins on Thursday and the visiting New York Yankees today (Friday), but both games were postponed. It remains to be seen if Saturday and Sunday games with the Yankees go by the wayside, too. . . . All told, 16 MLB teams now have had games called because of COVID-19. . . .
Italy’s Serie A soccer league is trying to return from a shortened off-season — its previous season ended on Aug. 2 — but has had at least eight players test positive. Cagliari, Napoli, Roma and Torino all have had positives. . . . Serie A’s schedule is to begin on Sept. 19. . . .
The Montreal Impact are scheduled to play host to the Vancouver Whitecaps in an MLS game on Tuesday. And the Impact says it will have fans — a maximum of 250 of them — in the seats at State Saputo. . . . The Whitecaps have three home games scheduled for September, but have said they’ll play without fans. . . . With the U.S.-Canada border closed to non-essential travel, Canada’s MLS teams are only playing against each other. . . .
The Winnipeg High School Football League is on hold, at least for now. . . . In a statement released Thursday, Jeffrey Bannon, the league’s commissioner, said: “Based upon the approval of Football Manitoba’s Return to Play Stage 2, ‘Stay & Play,’ the WHSFL is now in conversations with each school division and their member teams to determine the future of any resemblance of a 2020 season.” . . . Training camps that were to have begun on Aug. 24 have been postponed indefinitely. . . .
From a Thursday news release: “The World of Outlaws announced today that several drivers and crew members have tested positive. . . .” One driver tested positive after last weekend’s races at Knoxville Raceway. Two crew members subsequently also tested positive. . . . After contact tracing, “several other participants and families have tested positive. So far, symptoms appear minor.”
If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:
Living Kidney Donor Program
St. Paul’s Hospital
6A Providence Building
1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-9027
Toll free: 1-877-922-9822
Fax: 604-806-9873
Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca
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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney
Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre
Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9
604.875.5182 or 1.855.875.5182
kidneydonornurse@vch.ca
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
TAKING NOTE 
I’d give a kidney away,. but mine are broken also. 😀
I need a real excellent doctor👍
Take Care
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