With the numbers showing no signs of slowing down, François Legault, 
Quebec’s premier, has extended the red zone restrictions until Nov. 23. They had been schedule to be lifted on Thursday. . . . The QMJHL has six teams located in these zones — the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada, Drummondville Voltigeurs, Gatineau Olympiques, Quebec Remparts, Shawinigan Cataractes and Victoriaville Tigres. . . . The Armada and Voltigeurs have had players test positive, as have the Sherbrooke Phoenix. . . . Earlier, the QMJHL suspended play for its Quebec-based teams until Oct. 28. There is speculation that those teams won’t return to play until early December. . . .
Meanwhile, the Olympiques won’t be returning to their home arena, the Robert-Guertin Centre, anytime soon, and maybe not at all this season. The arena will continue to be used as an emergency accommodation centre for the homeless during the pandemic. The Olympiques had hoped to have their arena back on Dec. 1. . . . If/when the Olympiques return to action, they will continue at the Baribeau Arena. They are scheduled to move into a new arena next season.
The WHL’s Portland Winterhawks have been asked to dump their primary logo. Shannon Gormley of the Willamette Week reported Monday that “a local nonprofit is petitioning the Winterhawks to change their logo.” Earlier this year, the team unveiled a third jersey with a different logo but, as Gormley wrote, “the team still wears its original jersey, featuring a caricature of an Indigenous person, at most games, and continues to manufacture and sell merchandise with the figure.” . . . Gormley continued: “The Native American Youth and Family Center started the petition two weeks ago, urging the team to permanently switch to a hawk. It’s now nearly reached its goal of 1,500 signatures.” . . . There wasn’t an immediate response from the Winterhawks. . . . Gormley’s story is right here. . . . The Winterhawks are in receivership at the moment and the WHL is searching for a buyer.
COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .
Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, writing in his Sunday column about the NHL’s plans for next season: “There is talk of hub cities. There is talk of an All-Canadian division being played, which is all but a certainty. But just as each market and both Canada and the United States are dealing with increased COVID-19 numbers, consider this: On the day the NHL shut down in March, following the NBA, there were 42 positive tests in Ontario. On Saturday, the number was 978.” . . .
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Jack Finarelli, aka The Sports Curmudgeon, with a suggestion to the NFL “mavens” in his Monday posting: “You have put in place COVID-19 protocols that are purposefully and intelligently designed to reduce the probability of viral transmission. One element of those protocols is that coaches and team staff must wear masks on the sidelines during games. Obviously, there will be moments when a coach needs to lower his mask to enable others to hear or understand what he is saying; those sorts of brief ‘exposures’ are imperfect but understandable.
“Here is what should not be tolerated:
(1) Coaches, assistant coaches and staff members on the sidelines with masks that cover only their mouth and not their nose.
(2) In the past, the NFL has levied fines for not wearing a mask; coaches with ‘noses out’ should be fined half that amount and the league office only need to watch the television feeds for the games to identify which coaches to collect from.” . . .
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Quarterback Graham Mertz of the Wisconsin Badgers tested positive after the freshman led his team to a 45-7 season-opening win over Illinois on Friday night. . . . The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Monday that backup QB Chase Wolf, a sophomore, also has tested positive. . . . Paul Chryst, the Badgers’ head coach, won’t comment on the status of either player. . . .
RB Ryquell Armstead of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars is expected to miss the rest of this season as he works to recover from COVID-19. ESPN has reported that he has twice been hospitalized and has had numerous complications, including “significant respiratory distress.” Armstead is 23. . . .
At least 39 members of the Delta, B.C., fire department were exposed to COVID-19, and a recreational hockey game is getting at least some of the blame. . . . “The game took place early last week,” Vancouver radio station NEWS 1130 reported. “A member of Delta Fire and Emergency Services attended, not knowing they and a family member had the virus. Those who played in the game and others who were later on shift with this person at the department were all exposed to COVID-19. At least 39 members of the department were in isolation at one point.” . . . Firefighters who tested negative have started returning to work, while others await results.
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.
JUST NOTES: Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press reports that D Carson Lambos of the Winnipeg Ice has left the Manitoba capital for Jyväskylä, Finland, where he is skating with JYP of the country’s U-20 league. If his transfer gets done, he could play in games on the weekend. Lambos, 17, is expected to be an early selection in the NHL’s 2021 draft. Sawatzky’s story is right here. . . . The BCHL’s Langley Rivermen have decided they won’t have any American players in their roster this season because of COVID-19. “We just thought it was the right thing to do,” Bobby Henderson, the team’s GM/head coach, told Dan Ferguson of the Langley Advance Times. “Normally, we would be allowed to have six” Americans on the roster. Ferguson’s story is right here.
TAKING NOTE 