Tag: Skylar Peters

COVID-19 takes beloved Regina sportscaster . . . Darby Mills loses her father, ex-General, to virus . . . Remember MacTavish vs. Harvey?

I spent 17 years in the Regina Leader-Post’s sports department and had the good fortune of spending time in Warren Woods’ company on more than one occasion. He really was one of those people who had the ability to lift a room. His smile. His laugh. His demeanour. He didn’t work at it; he was just Woodsy.

When you hear the name ‘Woodsy,’ you don’t picture some miserable SOB who prefers the clouds to the sunshine. You think of someone with a lifelong smile and an infectious laugh — well, Woodsy had the smile but his laugh was more of a cackle.

When I was told in early December that Woodsy was in a Regina hospital after having contracted COVID-19, I just knew that he would laugh/cackle and the virus would run for the hills. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.

Woodsy, 66, died in a Regina hospital on Wednesday afternoon.

The Regina sporting community — indeed, all of Saskatchewan — will be a long time getting over this loss.

Now . . . if you think this pandemic is a hoax, I’ve got news for you. It’s real and we’re in it for a while yet. So wear a mask. Keep your distance. Wash your hands. Again and again and again. Just do your part.

Woodsy’s memory and those of so many others deserve nothing less.

If you didn’t know Woodsy, Rob Vanstone will introduce you to him via the tweet below.

Back in the day, Stan Mills played junior hockey with the Oshawa Generals, alongside the likes of Harry Sinden, Alex Delvecchio and Lou Jankowski. But you perhaps know more about Stan’s daughter, Darby, a Canadian rocker who came to fame with the Headpins. . . . These days, Darby is mourning the loss of her father. Stan, 90, who had dementia, died on Jan. 14 in a long-term care home in Vernon, B.C. He was a COVID-19 victim, gone five days after being diagnosed. . . . “He was a great man and he worked his whole life to supply his four children with everything he and mom possibly could,” Darby told Megan Turcato of Global News. “(He was) just a wonderful guy that we are all going to miss greatly, for sure.” . . . Having lost her father, Darby wants people to know that this pandemic is real. “Before you lose someone to this . . . wash your hands, throw on a mask,” she said. . . . Turcato’s story is right here, and there is a great photo at the bottom of it that shows Stan moments after scoring a goal against Guelph during the 1950-51 OHA season.

One of the great moments in NHL history occurred 18 years ago — on Jan. 20, 2003. That was the night when Craig MacTavish, then the head coach of the Edmonton Oilers, reached up and . . . well, you should watch the video. . . . As a point of interest, the coach to MacTavish’s left, the gentleman wearing the headset, is Billy Moores, one of hockey’s truly good guys. Moores spent 17 seasons on staff with the U of Alberta Golden Bears, but left for one season (1985-86) to work as general manager and head coach of the WHL’s Regina Pats.

Beauty

THE COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

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CBC News — The Dutch government has proposed the first countrywide curfew since the Second World War and a ban on flights from South Africa and the U.K.

Skylar Peters, CJOB Winnipeg — Manitoba is reporting 154 new cases of COVID-19, and 6 new deaths Wednesday. . . . Totals — Cases: 27,893 . . . Active: 3,137 . . . Deaths: 788 . . . Hospitalized (infectious/total): 129/273 . . . ICU: 25/36 . . . Winnipeg test positivity rate: 6.7% . . . Provincial test positivity rate: 9.5%.

CBC News — Saskatchewan is reporting 234 new cases of COVID-19 and  4 additional deaths. . . . Superspreader event at Saskatoon karaoke bar now linked to over 80 COVID-19 cases. Crackers Restaurant was closed after an outbreak linked to the establishment was declared Jan. 10.

CBC News — Alberta reported 21 more COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday and 669 new cases of the illness. Laboratories conducted about 14,900 tests over the past 24 hours putting the positivity rate at about 4.5 per cent.

Richard Zussman, Global BC — There are 500 new cases of COVID-19 in BC, for a total of 62,412 cases in British Columbia. There have been 14 new COVID-19 related deaths, for a total of 1,104 deaths. There are 4,345 active cases of COVID-19 in B.C. There are 320 individuals currently hospitalized with COVID-19, 66 of whom are in intensive care.

Daily Hive Vancouver — British Columbians petition government to close provincial border. . . . The petition asks Premier John Horgan to ban recreational travel into the province for one month to curb COVID-19 transmission at a time when officials believe new variants could be circulating in the community. . . . It has more than 5,000 signatures so far, and many of the supporters say they’re tired of seeing people from places like Ontario come to BC for vacation at a time when locals are adhering to public health restrictions.

CBC News — Ontario reports another 2,655 cases of COVID-19 and 89 deaths. 54,307 tests completed, 4.9% positivity rate.

CBC News — Quebec is reporting 1,502 new COVID-19 cases and 66 more deaths.

CBC News — The British diplomat whose kidnapping in 1970 by radical Quebec separatists triggered the October Crisis has died. James Richard Cross was 99. His death, from COVID-19 on Jan. 6, was confirmed Wednesday by his son-in-law, John Stringer. Cross spent 59 days in captivity after armed members of the Front de libération du Québec barged into his Montreal home on Oct. 5, 1970.

CBC news — New Brunswick Public Health reports 21 new COVID-19 cases, with new cases in five of the province’s seven zones, and declares an outbreak at a special care home in Edmundston.

CNN, Wednesday, 2:56 p.m. PT — 405,000 people in the United States have died from coronavirus.

CNN, Wednesday, 7:27 p.m. PT — 406,000 people in the United States have died from coronavirus.

CNN, Wednesday, 8:02 p.m. PT — The United States reported at least 4,229 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, the second highest number of new deaths in a single day since the pandemic began.

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The NHL has postponed the Carolina Hurricanes’ games through Saturday as the team deals with COVID-19 and protocols. The Hurricanes, who beat host Nashville, 4-2, on Monday, were to have played the Predators again on Tuesday but that game was postponed. Now two games against the visiting Florida Panthers that had been scheduled for Thursday and Saturday have been scratched and Carolina’s training facility has been closed. The Hurricanes next are scheduled play on Tuesday and Thursday nights when they are to entertain the Tampa Bay Lightning. . . .

Later Wednesday, the NHL added four players from the Washington Capitals, including F Alex Ovechkin, to the COVID-19 list and fined the team $100,000 for violating protocols. F Evgeny Kuznetsov, D Dmitry Orlov and G Ilya Samsonov also went on the list. The Capitals were fined for “social interactions among team members who were in close contact and who were not wearing face coverings.” . . . The players reportedly gathered in a hotel room during a recent road trip and that isn’t allowed under the NHL’s protocols. According to those protocols, each player is “required to stay in a single occupancy room, and no individual shall permit guests or other personnel in their room.” . . . Washington is next scheduled to play on Friday against the visiting Buffalo Sabres. As of Wednesday night it wasn’t clear if the four players would be able to play. . . . The Capitals share their playing facility with the NBA’s Washington Wizards, who were back at practice Wednesday after going through an outbreak that resulted in five postponements. . . .

The number of NBA postponements reached 16 on Wednesday when the league postponed that night’s game between the Memphis Grizzlies and host Portland Trail Blazers. . . . The Grizzlies were involved in contact tracing and didn’t have eight healthy players for the game. . . . Fifteen of the postponements have come since Jan. 10. . . . Whoops! Make that 17 total postponements. Late Wednesday night word came that Friday’s game between the Washington Wizards and Milwaukee Bucks has been scrubbed. The Wizards, who had six straight games postponed, have six players out because of protocols.

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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

——

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.

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Want an easy win to feel great? Register to be an organ donor today. It will only #TakeTwoMinutes and you could save a life. Great deed and fuzzy feels without any hassle. #Register2Give taketwominutes.ca

Tears

OHL expected to move on from Feb. 4 start date . . . Who’s on your Pats’ all-time teams? . . . Zach needs a kidney

As we head into Christmas weekend, it would seem that we are at least a month CHLaway from major junior hockey being played anywhere. . . . The OHL pooh-bahs have met and are expected to announce today (Wednesday) that they haven’t cancelled their season but have gone away from having a target date. The OHL had announced on Oct. 29 that it was planning to open a 40-game regular season on Feb. 4. With Southern Ontario entering a four-week lockdown on Dec. 26, the Feb. 4 date became unreachable. . . . The WHL, which had targeted a Jan. 8 start date, has moved on from that and now says its board of governors will meet later in January to reassess its position. . . . The QMJHL, unlike the OHL and WHL, has government (read: taxpayers) money in its jeans, and is planning to play some bubble hockey late in January. . . . Of course, we are going to have to wait and see whether COVID-19 will allow it.

Let the arguments begin! Rob Vanstone of the Regina Leader-Post and Kevin PatsShaw, who is a walking, talking Pats encyclopedia, put their heads together and came up with lists of the best players in the history of the WHL franchise. . . . They didn’t produce just a first team, but also second, third and fourth teams. . . . They’re all right here, so take a look and discuss, then direct all comments to Mr. Vanstone. . . . I don’t know who I would have dropped off their first team, but I would have found room for Jason Smith.

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

CBC News: 155 new COVID-19 cases in Manitoba, the 2nd day in a row where the cases have been below 200. That hasn’t happened since the end of October. The province is also reporting 18 additional deaths.

Skylar Peters, CJOB Winnipeg: The province says it handed out 283 warnings and 62 tickets in the latest round of COVID-19 enforcement (Dec. 14-20), including: 2 $5,000 business tickets; 48 $1,296 individual tickets; 12 $298 mask-wearing tickets; 35 of those tickets were related to gatherings at homes.

CBC News: Saskatchewan has 181 new COVID-19 cases, well below the province’s 7-day average of 216. Health authorities are also attributing 3 additional deaths to the virus.

Courtney Theriault, City News: 11 new COVID deaths in Alberta, now up 871 . . . 1021 new cases on 14199 tests (7.2% +) . . .  802 in hospital (+7), 152 in ICU (+1) . . . 18331 active cases in AB (-834).

CBC News: B.C. announces 444 new cases of COVID-19, the lowest single-day total in more than a month.

CBC News: Ontario has 2,202 new cases of COVID-19, pushing the 7-day average to 2,288. There are 636 in Toronto, 504 in Peel Region, and 218 in York. 45,265 tests were completed, with a positivity rate of 5%. 1,005 people are in hospital with 273 in ICU.

CBC News: Quebec reports 2,183 new COVID-19 cases, the province’s highest single day total since the pandemic began. 28 additional deaths are also being attributed to the virus.

CNN: The continent of Antarctica has recorded its first coronavirus cases after 36 individuals tested positive on a research base, according to the Chilean military.

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Strike another bowl game off the schedule. The Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl has been cancelled because South Carolina can’t answer the bell due to virus-related issues. The game was to have had South Carolina (2-8) — yes, 2-8! — against Alabama Birmingham (6-3) in Tampa Bay on Saturday. . . .

Might the Music City Bowl be in jeopardy? Scheduled for Dec. 30 in Nashville, the game is to feature No. 15 Iowa (6-2) and Missouri (5-5). However, Iowa has suspended in-person football activities until Saturday after an increase in positives. According to the Des Moines Register, six coaches and several players have come up positive. That includes head coach Kirk Ferentz. . . .

The NFL had 14 players and 31 other personnel test positive from Dec. 13-19. In that span, 6,927 people underwent 41,501 tests. . . . Since Aug. 1, the NFL has had 201 positives among players and 359 among other personnel. That’s out of 840,460 tests. . . .

The San Francisco 49ers have lost quarterbacks Nick Mullens and Jimmy Garoppolo to injuries, which means C.J. Beathard will start against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday. However, they ran out of quarterbacks on Tuesday when Josh Johnson went on the reserve/COVID-19 list. That’s why they signed Josh Rosen off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad.

Zach16

——

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Toigo: Pandemic fallout won’t be pretty picture . . . Hamilton: We are in full support of what’s going on . . . Robison: Bantam draft may be delayed

Ron Toigo, the majority owner of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, said on Wednesday that the fallout in junior hockey from COVID-19 may take a year or two to be seen but that “it’s not going to be a pretty picture.”

Appearing on Sportsnet 650 in Vancouver, Toigo said:

“At some point, there’s going to have to be some government support for these Vancouverthings to survive, and without that I think you’re going to see failures across the country from (junior A) to major junior to junior B. It’s inevitable.

“From our perspective, we were already down half-a-million dollars when (last season) ended because we didn’t get the last home games in which is where you start to break even. All these things are more or less designed to break even if everything goes right, and then if you get a run in the playoffs you can recover some of the money.

“Most teams in general, not just the Western Hockey League, the BCHL, across the board, people don’t get into this to make a living. . . . These aren’t great models from an economic perspective. Now when you take all the revenue away but keep most of the expenses, it’s not a good scenario for any business.”

The end result, according to Toigo, could be disastrous.

“You might not see it this year,” he said. “It might take a year or two where a lot of these things will come to fruition. It’s not going to be a pretty picture.”

Toigo pointed out that he and the other WHL operators are hardly alone in having to face this pandemic.

“It is a scenario that virtually all walks of life are dealing with,” he said. “Every business is dealing with it. The catastrophic impact on small businesses across this province is something we are going to feel for many many years to come, and junior hockey is just one of those that are caught up in it.”

Toigo’s appearance is available right here.

——

Bruce Hamilton, the Kelowna Rockets’ president and general manager and the chairman of the WHL’s board of governors, agrees with Toigo in terms of what’s ahead.

“We are going to have some teams that are going to really struggle,” Hamilton KelownaRocketstold Travis Lowe of Global News.“It’s up to the rest of us to help make sure that they make it through.”

But, at this point in time, Hamilton said, “We just don’t see there being any way that we can safely have our players back here.”

Hamilton also pointed out that the WHL and its teams aren’t about to question any of the public heath officials or the regulations that have been put in place in any of the six jurisdictions in which the league operates.

“We fully understand and fully, fully support what is going on,” Hamilton said.

There was a time when the WHL had hoped to open a regular season on Oct. 2. It later changed that date to Dec. 4 and then to Jan. 8. On Tuesday, the league announced that it has moved on from that date and that it now doesn’t have a starting date. Instead, its board of governors will meet in January and assess things at that point.

“I think we are being wise to not name a date,” Hamilton told Lowe. “To me, that becomes an issue for the players . . . they get their hopes up.”

Meanwhile, the OHL is hoping to open its regular season on Feb. 4.

The QMJHL tried to get its regular season started in October, and has gone in fits and starts. Like so many other leagues, it now is back on hold and is hoping to resume play in January. When it does get back on the ice, it could be in some sort of bubble format.

There are 12 Quebec-based teams in the league and seven of them want to play host to bubbles — the Baie-Comeau Drakkar, Chicoutimi Sagueneens, Drummonville Voltigeurs, Quebec Remparts, Rimouski Oceanic, Shawinigan Cataractes and Victoriaville Tigres.

These days, however, there’s more to life than playing hockey.

As Rockets head coach Kris Mallette told Lowe: “There’s a bigger issue at hand. This pandemic is not going away.”

Lowe’s story is right here.

——

Ron Robison, the WHL commissioner, said on Wednesday that the league’s is considering moving the bantam draft back on year because of what the pandemic has done to this season.

“Yes, absolutely,” Robison said on The Jason Gregor Show (TSN 1260, whlEdmonton). “It’s hard to evaluate players (and) it’s hard for players to develop under these circumstances. We are considering delaying the draft.

“We haven’t arrived at a decision on that but I think in fairness to the players and the system generally that is something we are seriously considering and we will hopefully make a decision real soon.”

Robison pointed out that scouting has “represented a challenge.” But, he said, the WHL wants to “do it right and give the players every opportunity.”

Under normal circumstances, the bantam draft is held on the first Thursday of May, although the 2020 draft was held virtually on April 23.

During his appearance, Robison also said that the WHL hasn’t had any conversations about scrapping the season, and added that there isn’t a drop-dead date by which time such a decision would have to be made.

“We’re just trying to find a window of time that’s going to make sense,” he said. “Our goal is to have all teams, all divisions playing. Our hope is to get everyone started. We may have to stagger our start. We’re not quite sure what that will look like. We’re prepared to do anything, quite frankly, to get the season in and find a way to make it a representative season for the players and our teams.”

In the end, Robison said, the league is well aware that a final decision will come down to the health authorities.

“We are in discussion with the health authorities in order to return to play,” he explained. “Our protocols are a little bit more extensive than the other levels of hockey, if you will. We have not received final approval from all jurisdictions in order to play. It’s a health-and-safety issue first and foremost for our players, and we want to make sure we do it right. We want to have a testing base and a protocol solution and we’re working through these with the various health authorities.”

The WHL announced on Tuesday that it wasn’t going to start its next season on Jan. 8 as it had hoped. Had it been able to go then, it likely would have had a 50-game regular season.

Now, with no start date even pencilled in, Robison said a determination hasn’t been made as to how many games is needed to have a season.

“We aren’t going to be in a position to deliver (50 games),” he said. “We’ve got to make a determination on whether we can play four full rounds of playoffs and a Memorial Cup. Once we have all that information we’ll set our schedule. But it’ll all depend on what our start date is . . . and what our end date will be.”

At the moment, restrictions in at least two provinces — Alberta and Saskatchewan — have been extended into mid-January. Whenever restrictions come off, Robison there will be about a three-week time frame before a regular season could start. That would include getting players into isolation, a testing procedure and holding some kind of training camp.

“There is a bit of a process we have to go through in preparation to start,” Robison said, adding that the WHL isn’t “in a position to project with restrictions into Jan. 15.”

Robison also touched on the financial picture involving the 22-team league.

“They’re all in a very difficult position,” he said. “This is something that is very challenging for a lot of organizations, a lot of teams at this stage. They’ve been holding on waiting to start play. They’ve got ongoing costs associated with that.

“Let’s not forget that we had to cancel the balance of our season, including the end of the regular season and playoffs and the Memorial Cup that we were scheduled to host (in Kelowna). A significant amount of losses has been accumulated by the teams to date.

“It’s a very difficult challenge for them to envision moving forward, especially when we’re a ticket-driven league and at this particular stage we are not envisioning spectators to be permitted. The whole financial equation is a very difficult one for our teams.”

The complete interview is available right here.

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

Earl Seitz, the long-time sports anchor at CFJC-TV in Kamloops, opened his Wednesday evening sportscast with this:

“We hear about the impact that no hockey, no sports, is having on the mental health of some.

“Can’t disagree with that.

“But to put it in perspective — think of the seniors, the elders, who are dying by the hundreds, the thousands, from Covid-19 — and because of restrictions are alone without the presence of loved ones there to comfort them in their final hours.

“Or those loved ones who will live with the anguish of not being able to be there with a mother, a father, a grandparent or wife or husband in their final hours.

“Hockey and sports will be back — those who are dying from Covid-19 won’t be.”

——

——

Skylar Peters, CJOB Winnipeg: 15 more Manitobans have lost their lives to COVID-19, and the province reported 292 cases Wednesday. . . . Total: 21,286. . . . Active: 5,797. . . . Deaths: 523. . . . Hospitalized: 328. . . . ICU: 46. . . . WPG test positivity rate: 13.7%. . . . Prov. test positivity rate: 13.6%.

CBC News: 169 new COVID-19 cases reported in Saskatchewan, the 2nd day in a row the number of cases has been below 200. That’s hasn’t happened since November 24-25.

CBC News: Alberta reports 1,270 new cases of COVID-19 and 16 more deaths. Dr. Hinshaw points out that more Albertans have died from COVID-19 in 10 months, than from influenza over the past 10 years combined.

Kamloops This Week: B.C. health authorities are reporting 640 new cases of COVID-19 and 24 further deaths due to the disease. . . . Those new cases include 91 in the Interior Health region, which now has 843 active cases, including 28 in hospital and seven of those patients in critical care units. . . . In total, there are 9,950 active cases in the province. Of those, 362 are in hospital, including 91 in critical care. The province has now had 44,103 confirmed cases. Of those, 32,375 have recovered and 692 have died.

CBC News: Ontario reported 2,139 new cases of COVID-19 and 43 more deaths from the illness on Wednesday as hospitalization figures reached second-wave highs.

CBC News: 1,897 new COVID-19 cases in Quebec, well above the 7-day average of 1,791. 43 additional deaths are also reported. The number of people in hospital rose by 16 to 975; 128 are in intensive care.

CBC News: New household gathering limits announced for all of Nova Scotia during Christmas period.

CNN: The United States reported at least 3,453 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, the highest number of new deaths in a single day since the pandemic began.

Jim Acosta, CNN: A devastating day in the pandemic for the US. So far today (Wednesday), Johns Hopkins has reported 242,490 new cases and 3,518 reported deaths (10:20pm eastern). This is the highest single day reporting of daily new deaths since the pandemic began.

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The start of the Australian Open has been pushed back three weeks to Feb. 8. It was to have opened on Jan. 18 in Melbourne.

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

JUST NOTES: The NHL’s Calgary Flames have moved Jason LaBarbera from the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen to be their goaltending coach. LaBarbera spent four seasons as the goaltending coach with the Hitmen, who are owned by the Flames. LaBarbera, 40, also is Hockey Canada’s goaltending coach, so is in the Edmonton bubble with the national junior team. He played four seasons in the WHL (Tri-City, Portland, Spokane, 1996-2000). . . . The OHL’s Sudbury Wolves need a head coach after Cory Stillman left to join the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes as an assistant coach. He had been the Wolves’ head coach for three seasons. Prior to that, he spent five seasons as the Carolina Hurricanes’ director of player development.

Winterhawks sale should close Dec. 31; price tag is US$5,850,000 . . . Virus takes two off U.S. roster

Joshua Critzer, who has been following the saga of the Portland Winter Hawks on Twitter (@jjcritzer), has posted a series of 14 tweets involving the sale of the WHL franchise.

You will recall that the franchise went into receivership in May after owner Bill PortlandAlternateGallacher apparently wasn’t able to repay money that had been borrowed in 2018 with the Winterhawks’ franchise among the collateral.

Gallacher had purchased the Winterhawks in October 2008.

Here, then, are the Critzer tweets:

The purchase price is listed as US$5,850,000. The new ownership group will be known as Winterhawks Sports Group LLC. The sale is expected to be approved in the necessary Canadian and Oregon courts. As first reported by Jeff Marek of Sportsnet, Kerry Preete will be one of the primary owners. Michael Kramer is the second. There may be other members of the ownership group, but they are not listed on any of the court documents.

Included in the sales price are the majority of Portland’s assets such as: All cash, intellectual property (i.e., 78 domain names and use of the Winterhawks logos), tangible personal property, rights associated with membership in the WHL, sponsorship contracts, and more.

The closing date for the sale is 12/31.

After the Receiver approved the new owners, there were two conditions. Both “have been met or waived”: 1. WHL Approval (League did approve); 2. A new lease for the Winterhawks practice facility. . . . The Winterhawks will stay in Portland.

The new owners are also taking on many of the liabilities including: Anything owed to customers after cancelling last season, up to $200,000 as a result of a lawsuit against the WHL for allegedly misclassifying players as amateur athletes rather than employees, two leased vehicles, accounts payable owing to the WHL up to US$10,718 and US$38,347, and all liabilities arising after the closing date that were incurred in the ordinary course of business.

One main liability is excluded, “in respect to employees.” Regarding employees: The new owners may make a written offer of employment to any employee at least 5 days prior to closing. In the court documents obtained, “9 employees shall have accepted an offer” with the new ownership. Mike Johnston & Kyle Gustafson are among the 9.

After reading the court documents, the new owners may make a written offer to any of the Portland scouts including those in temporary layoff/furlough. They would become “Transferred Contractors” and keep the same “active or inactive status & compensation” prior to the sale.

At the start, 34 parties executed a confidentiality agreement and 6 offers were submitted by 6/30. Three were chosen to participate in a 2nd round, only one submitted a “competitive offer.” The Receiver couldn’t come to an agreement with that party. All 6 offers are sealed.

When the 2nd round failed to produce a competitive offer, a broker was retained by the Receiver to help with the sale. The broker had previous experience selling WHL teams. They would have received a 3% commission. It is believed the principal of that entity is Daryl Henry.

On 9/23 the Receiver was contacted by the new owners and on 10/23 the diligence was completed allowing the process to move forward with league approval, as well as solution for the practice facility lease. The new owners placed a deposit of US$312,500 as part of the sale.

An important aspect of the sale is the new owners “agree to co-operate and execute any written assignment and assumption pertaining to the Standard Player Agreement as recognized by the WHL.” A key aspect of the Standard Player Agreement is the education benefit for players.

The sale price of the Winterhawks was impacted by the current situation with COVID-19, lost revenue from last season, and uncertainty pertaining to when fans will return to games. The majority of revenue for WHL teams comes from ticket sales.

Lastly, after the Winterhawks’ previous owner defaulted on a loan, the Portland organization, and the Receiver, sought out a new owner by the start of the 2020-2021 WHL season. This sale accomplishes that goal.

——

Some notes related to the sale of the Winterhawks, who are expected to hold a news conference in the near future. . . .

The sale price of US$5,850,000 translates to Cdn$7,471,269. . . . Bill Gallacher purchased the franchise from Jim Goldsmith, Jack Donovan and John Bryant in October 2008 for what was believed to be about Cdn$7.5 million. . . . At that time, I wrote: “That would be a record price for a WHL franchise. The Kamloops Blazers were sold last summer for a price that ended up being around Cdn$6.1 million. The last expansion franchise, which was sold to the NHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings two years ago, carried a Cdn$4-million price tag.” . . . In the last two seasons under the Goldsmith, Donovan and Bryant ownership, the Winterhawks had the WHL’s poorest record. . . . Under Gallacher and with Mike Johnston as general manager and head coach, the Winterhawks became one of the WHL’s flagship franchises. . . .

BonnieKerryPreete
Bonnie and Kerry Preete. (Photo: U of Saskatchewan)

Kerry Preete, one of the new owners, joined Monsanto in 1985, but left the company after it was bought up by Bayer A.G. in 2018 for US$70 billion. At the end, he was the executive vice-president and chief strategy officer. . . . Preete, 60, is from Melfort, Sask. He has a bachelor of commerce degree from the U of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon and an MBA from Washington University (Olin Business School) in St. Louis. . . . He played in the SJHL in the late 1970s with the Prince Albert Raiders and Humboldt Broncos, before going to the U of Saskatchewan. While there, he played for the Huskies under head coach Dave King and won a national championship in 1983. Preete spent time on a line with Dave Adolph, who went on to coach the Huskies and is the winningest coach in Canadian university hockey history. Adolph announced earlier this month that he will be retiring in April. Also on that Huskies team: Willie Desjardins, now the head coach of the Medicine Hat Tigers, and Peter Anholt, the general manager of the Lethbridge Hurricanes. . . . At the same time, Preete’s wife, Bonnie, was playing for the women’s hockey team, then nicknamed the Huskiettes. . . . The Preetes donated $150,000 to the campaign that resulted in a new arena — Merlis Belsher Place — for the U of S hockey teams. . . . Kerry and Bonnie have three sons; he coached them in minor hockey in St. Louis. He also was a director with the Amateur Hockey Association of Missouri. . . . If you believe in coincidences, Gallacher and the Preetes all lived in Scottsdale, Ariz., a short time ago.

Team USA decided on its roster for the World Junior Championship on Saturday 2021WJCin Plymouth, Mich., but not before having to drop two players because of one positive test. . . . F John Beecher, a Boston Bruins’ first-round pick in the NHL’s 2019 draft, tested positive. That took him and roommate F Thomas Bordeleau off the roster. The San Jose Sharks selected Bordeleau in the second round of the NHL’s 2020 draft. He is the son of former NHLer Sebastien Bordeleau. . . . Beecher’s father, Bill, told the Boston Globe that his son had a second test that came back negative. But according to the IIHF’s pre-tournament protocol a single positive calls for disqualification. . . . Beecher and Bordeleau both play at the U of Michigan and were back on campus later Saturday. . . . G Dustin Wolf of the Everett Silvertips is on the U.S.’s roster for a second straight year. He made one appearance in the 2020 tournament. This time, he is expected to back up Spencer Knight, a first-round pick by the Florida Panthers who is also back for a second go-round. . . . The U.S. also won’t have D Nicholas Robertson, 19, on its roster after the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs chose not to make him available. Robertson, a California who played for the Peterborough Petes last season, has been quarantining in Toronto. He made his NHL debut on Aug. 2 in the Toronto bubble. . . . The 10-team 2021 WJC opens Dec. 25 in the Edmonton bubble. All teams will be into the bubble on Sunday.

Waffle

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

The Associated Press: Charley Pride, country music’s first Black star — whose rich baritone on such hits as Kiss an Angel Good Morning helped sell millions of records and made him the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame — has died. He was 86. . . . Pride died Saturday in Dallas of complications from COVID-19, according to Jeremy Westby of the public relations firm 2911 Media.

Skylar Peters, CJOB Winnipeg: There are 18 more deaths and 360 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba today. . . . Cases: 20,750. . . . Active cases: 5,630. . . . Deaths: 483. . . . Hospitalizations: 289. . . . ICU: 42. . . . Provincial test positivity: 13.9. . . . Winnipeg test positivity: 13.2%.

CBC News: Saskatchewan reports 274 new cases of COVID-19 and a record 11 additional deaths.

CBC News: Alberta is reporting 1,590 new COVID-19 cases along with 13 deaths.

B.C.: Crickets.

CBC News: Ontario is reporting 1,873 new cases of COVID-19, including 522 cases in Toronto, 436 in Peel and 185 in York Region.

CBC News: Quebec is reporting 1,898 new cases of COVID-19. The province added 40 deaths to its total, 18 of which occurred in the last 24 hours.

CBC News: New Brunswick is reporting 1 new case of COVID-19 in the Saint John region. There are 72 known active cases in the province. 4 COVID-19 patients are in hospital, including 3 in intensive care.

CBC News: 3 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Newfoundland and Labrador. 2 of the cases are travel-related; the source of the remaining case is under investigation. There are 23 known active cases in the province. No one is in hospital due to the virus.

CBC News: Nunavut adds 2 new COVID-19 cases today.  Both in Arviat.   Also 8 cases in Arviat listed as recovered.  Current active cases in Arviat: 50.  No active cases in any other Nunavut communities.

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Keyontae Johnson, a star basketball player with Florida, collapsed on the court as the Gators and Florida State Seminoles were coming out of a timeout on Saturday afternoon. Johnson, who along with most of his teammates tested positive over the summer, was taken to a Tallahassee hospital where he was listed in critical but stable condition. . . .

NFL teams had at least three players test positive on Saturday. RB Myles Gaskin of the Miami Dolphins, DE Everyone Griffen of the Detroit Lions and LB Jachai Polite of the Los Angeles Rams all went on the reserve/COVID-19 list and won’t be playing today (Sunday). . . .

Saturday’s scheduled NCAA football game that was to have California playing at the Washington State Cougars was cancelled less than two hours before kickoff because of a positive test and contact tracing with the Golden Bears. . . . The Cougars now have had three games cancelled or postponed because of the virus.

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

FlinFlonCartoon

QMJHL looking at two options; WHL may push start into February . . . Nachbaur leaves Swiss team

The QMJHL, which announced Monday that its season is on hold until January, has a couple of options for when it resumes, but Gilles Courteau, the qmjhlnewcommissioner, says quitting isn’t one of them. . . .The QMJHL began its regular season on Oct. 2. By the time December is over, it will have postponed 161 of 253 scheduled games. . . . As Ken Campbell of The Hockey News wrote: “Like the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail who gradually has his limbs chopped off and insists they’re merely flesh wounds, the QMJHL vows to forge on.” . . . As things now sit, the QMJHL players are going home for Christmas, then will return to their teams on Jan. 3. If travel is allowed in the four provinces in which the QMJHL has franchises, the teams will resume playing on Jan. 6, but in empty arenas. The other option is to play in a bubble — or, as Courteau calls them, “protected environments.” That type of resumption would begin on Jan. 22. . . . So could the WHL or OHL end up in some kind of bubble environment? Well, the WHL, which has said it will open its regular season on Jan. 8, apparently is on the verge of shifting that date into February. The OHL is aiming for Feb. 4. . . . According to John Shannon in the above tweet, the WHL pooh-bahs were to meet on Tuesday. . . . Of course, as Campbell points out, the QMJHL is playing to a certain extent, with taxpayers’ money. “It’s much easier to stem those wounds when you have $20 million in taxpayer money propping up your business,” Campbell wrote in a piece that is right here.

Dr. Anthony Fauci may not be No. 1 on the White House’s hit parade, but he remains the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He also is the go-to person in terms of COVID-19. . . . Henry Bushnell of yahoo!sports went to him on Monday and was told that we are months — yes, months! — away from seeing sports stadiums and arenas filled to capacity. . . . That story is right here and there is lots in it to digest, including this from Dr. Fauci:

“We’re gonna be vaccinating the highest-priority people (from) the end of December through January, February, March. By the time you get to the general public, the people who’ll be going to the basketball games, who don’t have any underlying conditions, that’s gonna be starting the end of April, May, June. So it probably will be well into the end of the summer before you can really feel comfortable (with full sports stadiums) — if a lot of people get vaccinated. I don’t think we’re going to be that normal in July. I think it probably would be by the end of the summer.”

Plague

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

CBC News: Fines totalling more than $180,000 were issued to COVID-19 rule breakers in the last week, the government of Manitoba says.

CBC News: Saskatchewan is reporting 181 new cases of COVID-19, 4 more deaths and 237 recoveries. The province now has 8,745 total cases, 51 deaths, 3,819 active cases and 4,875 recoveries.

Marc Smith, CTV News: For the third time in nine days, Saskatchewan has reported four COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours. More people have died in the last 25 days than did in 240 days prior.

CBC News: Alberta reports 10 more COVID-19 deaths, 1,307 new cases. November was by far the worst month of the pandemic, so far.

Janet Brown, CKNW Vancouver: 656 cases, 16 deaths (457), 336 hospital (+20), 76 ICU (+1), 8796 active cases, 10123 self-isolation.

CBC News: Ontario is reporting 1,707 new cases of COVID-19. That sends the 7-day average to 1,666, the highest since the pandemic began. There are 727 new cases in Toronto (also a record high) with 373 in Peel and 168 in York. 7 additional deaths are also reported.

CBC News: Quebec is reporting 28 additional deaths and 1,177 new COVID-19 cases. That’s a decrease from the province’s previous 7-day average of 1,309.

CBC News: Quebec’s plan to allow people to gather over the Christmas period may be scrapped, given the rising number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Premier François Legault said Tuesday.

KOMO News: Washington state reported over 2,100 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday. In total, the Washington State Department of Health reported 2,197 new COVID-19 cases and 31 more deaths due to the virus. The latest surge pushes the statewide total since the start of the pandemic to 167,216 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 10,920 hospitalizations and 2,774 deaths.

oregonlive.com: 1,233 cases, record 24 reported deaths as state hits ‘grim milestone.’

CBC News: U.S. reported 4.2 million COVID-19 cases in November, as hopes rest on vaccine. Number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 hit record high of nearly 93,000 on Sunday.

Seattle Times: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the ban on nonessential travel with the United States will not be lifted until COVID-19 is significantly more under control around the world.

The New York Times: California has long had one of the nation’s lowest number of hospital beds relative to its population. Now officials say that shortfall may prove catastrophic as the state faces another coronavirus surge, with an average of nearly 15,000 new cases a day.

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Curling Canada announced Tuesday that it plans on playing the 2021 Scotties Tournament of Hearts, Tim Hortons Brier, world men’s championship and Canadian mixed doubles in a bubble environment at the Mackin MacPhail Centre in Calgary. Dates for the events have yet to be announced. . . . The Brier had been scheduled for Kelowna, a city that also lost out when the 2020 Memorial Cup tournament was cancelled last spring. . . . The Scotties was to have been held in Thunder Bay, which now will play host in 2022, from Jan. 28 through Feb. 6. . . . The world men’s had been scheduled for Ottawa. . . .

It would seem that the coronavirus can’t wait for NBA teams to open their buffets, er, training camps. The Golden State Warriors have had to push back the opening of their camp by a day after two players tested positive. . . . The NBA completed its 2019-20 season in a bubble in Orlando, Fla., proving that teams can do so without positive tests. Now, however, it is planning on opening its 2020-21 season without putting teams in bubbles. And it is going to be interesting to watch developments. . . . The Warriors will hold individual player workouts today, and hope to start practices on Monday. . . . Meanwhile, the Washington Wizards have had one player test positive, while C Mo Bamba of the Orlando Magic, a 22-year-old who tested positive on June 11, isn’t yet ready to return. . . .

The Baltimore Ravens flew into Pittsburgh on Tuesday evening in advance of meeting the Steelers this afternoon. The Ravens got on the plane despite experiencing two more positive tests on Wednesday — one player, reportedly S Geno Stone, and one staff member. . . . This afternoon’s game had been scheduled to be played last Thursday. It was rescheduled for Sunday and then Tuesday after the Ravens experienced more than a dozen positives. It is to be televised by NBC. . . .

Lewis Hamilton, the Formula One driving champion, has tested positive and will miss Sunday’s Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain. Hamilton tested negative three times last week, but woke up Monday with mild symptoms and tested positive. He took a second test and it, too, was positive. Hamilton won the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday before becoming ill.

Milkshakes

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

JUST NOTES: Don Nachbaur, the third winningest head coach in WHL regular-season history, has resigned as the head coach of SC Bern of the Swiss National League due to personal reasons. He was replaced by Mario Kogler, an Austrian who is the club’s U-20 coach. . . . The ECHL has yet to receive a franchise application for Trois-Rivières, Que., but the city and Deacon Sports and Entertainment have agreed on a five-year least for a team to play in a new arena that is being built there.

Poll

Now we’re spitting on each other! How ever did we get to this point in fight against COVID-19?

The weather in Campbell Creek, B.C., was decent on Wednesday, especially for the last week in November. Campbell Creek? That’s where we live, about 20 km east of Kamloops on the north side of the South Thompson River.

I sometimes walk on Wittner Road, which is on the other side of the river within a few feet of the Trans-Canada Highway.

While I was strolling along on Wednesday afternoon I found myself wondering: How did we ever get to where we are today?

Sheesh, stop and think about it . . . how did we ever arrive here?

There are people who hardly have left their homes since March. There are senior citizens in long-term care homes who aren’t permitted to have in-person visits from family members. Our seniors should be treated as national treasures, not as disposable tissues.

I mean, people are dying — by the thousands south of the border and the dozens up here. But that doesn’t seem to matter to some people who absolutely refuse to wear masks . . . masks that only serve to protect family, friends and neighbours, not to mention anyone else with whom a wearer might come in contact.

Not only that, but those same unbelievably selfish people will enter a place of business, in the process walking right past signs indicating that the wearing of masks is mandatory, and spit at employees who attempt to get them to maskup. Goodness grief! How did we ever get here?

And what of those in the medical community — the doctors and nurses and caregivers and janitorial staff, the EMTs, police officers, teachers, everyone — who have spent hours working in the most precarious of situations? What about showing them a whole lot more respect by curtailing some of those non-essential activities?

Seriously . . . how did we ever get to this stage of uncaring and incivility?

I’m only referring to Canada here because I have no interest in getting into what is — or isn’t — going on south of the 49th parallel, other than to say the numbers down there two weeks after their Thanksgiving weekend are going to be like nothing we could have imagined.

Meanwhile, I have questions . . .

Why can’t politicians and/or health officials from the various provinces communicate on a regular basis and plan the response to COVID-19 together?

In Western Canada for example, why do we have one province handing down restrictions one day, another one doing it the next day and yet one more taking action a couple of days later? I realize that we are talking politics and ideology, etc., when it comes to getting provinces to work together, but — GEEZ! — people are dying here.

In Manitoba, the chief health officer is upset because shoppers apparently are travelling to places like Yorkton, Sask., and Kenora, Ont., in order to purchase items that aren’t available at this time in Manitoba, which is allowing the sales of essential items only. What if the provinces got together, came up with a common plan of attack and then they all unleashed it at the same time?

Why is there so much confusion whenever politicians/health officials announce a new round of restrictions? They seem to announce them one day and then spend at least two days explaining and clarifying them. Maybe when this is all over some of these people could attend a seminar on how not to deliver mixed messages.

At the same time, though, why are so many people looking for loopholes in the restrictions? As a society, are we not intelligent enough to understand what is best for us and for our friends and neighbours? Do we not understand what are the right things to do without raising a fuss and looking for excuses not to do them?

When did so many people lose sight of the fact that the scientists and medical people with the letters after their names know a whole lot more about this stuff than the ‘doctors’ and ‘scientists’ who hang out on social media? Please stop trying to tell me that wearing a mask cuts my oxygen intake by 20 per cent, or even one per cent. And don’t even mention Bill Gates, vaccines and computer chips. If you have a cel phone, Bill Gates already knows where you are every minute of every day of every week of every month of every year. OK?

Would it hurt for sporting organizations that have had to pause their seasons to have a spokesperson step forward and say that, yes, we’re disappointed but we respect our health officials and we are committed to do whatever is requested of us if it means keeping our community safe? Hey, we are really in need of some leaders setting good examples out there.

And, finally, when did we begin devaluing human life to the degree that is happening these days? Let’s not forget that the dead, among other things, don’t contribute to the economy.

And let’s not forget that, as Joe Biden says, “We are at war with the virus, not one another.”

Please!

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

Skylar Peters, CJOB Winnipeg: There are 349 new cases of COVID-19 in Manitoba today, and 8 more people have lost their lives. . . . Deaths: 256. . . . Hospitalizations: 303 (pandemic-high). . . . ICU: 50. . . . TP: 14% (down .2% from Tues.) . . . Active: 8,758. . . . Recovered: 5,893. . . . Total: 14,907.

Brandon Sun: From Nov. 16-22, Manitobans were delivered 79 warnings and 95 tickets worth a total of $126,082 for breaking public health orders.

Marc Smith, CTV Regina: Saskatchewan announces 164 new cases today, including 69 in Regina. The Queen City is up to 693 active cases. Hospitalizations reach a record high at 111, including 19 people in ICU.

CBC News: Saskatchewan’s new COVID-19 restrictions suspend sports, extend mandatory masking to schools. Changes also include new limits for restaurants, weddings, funerals and recreational venues like casinos.

Toronto Star: Alberta Chief Medical officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw says the province has reached a grim milestone of 500 deaths, with another 1,265 COVID-19 cases diagnosed overnight.

CBC News: Calgary announces local state of emergency due to pandemic. Mayor Naheed Nenshi says the move allows the city to move quickly in order to respond to COVID-19.

CBC News: B.C. reports 738 new COVID-19 cases and 13 additional deaths, marking the highest one-day total for deaths in the province since the pandemic began. Hospitalizations hit another record high at 294 patients, with 61 in critical care.

CBC News: Ontario reports 36,100 more tests were completed. Data shows 523 people with COVID-19 are hospitalized in the province, 159 are in the ICU and 106 are on a ventilator.

CBC News: Quebec is reporting 45 additional deaths and 1,100 new COVID-19 cases. That’s the lowest daily case total in 8 days; Quebec’s previous 7-day average was 1,182.

CBC News: Nova Scotia is reporting 16 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the number of active cases in the province to 102. New restrictions for restaurants, gyms, long-term care facilities begin Thursday.CTV News: New Brunswick is reporting three new cases of COVID-19, bringing the province’s active total to 94.

CBC News: Nunavut has 11 new cases of COVID-19, raising the total to 155; 153 are active. 8 of the new cases are in Arviat, a fly-in community on Hudson Bay’s west coast. There are 115 cases in Arviat, for a test positivity rate of 23%. 3 others are in Whale Cove, 150 km north of Arviat.

CBC News: U.S. hospitalizations for COVID-19 surpassed 87,000 on Tuesday, an all-time high. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has recommended against Americans travelling for Thanksgiving in order to curb the spread of the virus.

The New York Times: America’s frontline medical workers caring for Covid-19 patients are reaching a breaking point, suffering from deepening stress, fatigue and anxiety.

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Hockey Canada’s national junior team selection camp in Red Deer has all but shut down after three positive tests. A staff member tested positive on Saturday and two players came up positive on Tuesday. As a result, all players and coaches have been ruled to be close contacts and put into quarantine for 14 days. That means, among other things, that two exhibition games against the U of Alberta Golden Bears scheduled for this weekend have been cancelled. . . .

The Saskatchewan government and health officials have put restrictions in place that have resulted in the SJHL shutting down until after Christmas. The league has five games on Friday’s schedule after which it will shut down. . . . The Flin Flon Bombers already had announced they were done after being unable to get clearance to move their base of operations to Creighton, Sask., and play all their games on the road. . . . The Melfort Mustangs, meanwhile, have been dealing with a positive test. . . .

The AJHL announced Wednesday night that it is “on pause until existing limitations are lifted and we are permitted to safely return.” . . . The AJHL’s board of governors is to meet on Dec. 19 to discuss the situation. . . . The AJHL has four teams — the Canmore Eagles, Calgary Canucks, Drumheller Dragons and Okotoks Oilers — dealing with positive tests. . . .

Atlantic University Sport announced Wednesday that it won’t be playing any sports in the 2021 winter season. That impacts hockey, basketball, swimming, volleyball and curling. . . . AUS covers 11 universities in Atlantic Canada. . . .

The NFL won’t have a Thursday night game this week. The Baltimore Ravens were to have played at the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, that game has been moved to Sunday afternoon because the Ravens have had a few positive tests. . . . The Cleveland Browns shut down their facility on Wednesday after a second positive test in as many days. . . . The Indianapolis Colts put DT DeForest Buckner on the reserve/COVID-19 list. He won’t play Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. . . . The Jacksonville Jaguars will be without three assistants coaches when they play the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.

Nick Saban, the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, has tested positive and won’t be on the sideline Saturday when his club faces Auburn in the annual Iron Bowl. Saban is said to be in quarantine with mild symptoms. . . . There were reports a couple of months ago that he had tested positive, but that turned out to be a false positive.

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Thanks1

So . . . we were really looking forward to watching the Baltimore Ravens play the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Weren’t we? But now that’s gone. . . . Here’s Bob Molinaro of the of the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot to describe the Thanksgiving Day football tradition:

“Grandma’s sweet potato casserole and collard greens haven’t given Thanksgiving Day revelers as much gas over the years as the Detroit Lions. Why must the NFL subject football-loving Americans to a Lions game — this year against the anemic Texans — each and every turkey day? Tradition? The only tradition worth recognizing here is the one that outlaws cruel and unusual punishment.”

Thanks2

Should hockey just shut down for 2020-21? . . . ECHL loses six more teams . . . MJHL’s Blues, Freeze disciplined

“The ECHL and the International Ice Hockey Federation came out Wednesday with their latest plans for this season and they involve such a bastardized version of competition that you have to begin to wonder whether the game – at all levels from the NHL right down to minor hockey – shouldn’t consider simply shutting down for 2020-21,” writes Ken Campbell of The Hockey News.

“I mean, it’s getting ridiculous. And it just seems as though leagues all over the world are desperately trying to jam a square peg into a round hole in a desperate effort to play this season in the midst of the second wave of a global pandemic, the likes of which the world has not seen for a century.”

His complete column is right here.

All six teams in the ECHL’s North Division have “elected a voluntary echlsuspension” for 2020-21, according to a league-issued news release. The Adirondack Thunder, Brampton Beast, Maine Mariners, Newfoundland Growlers, Reading Royals and Worcester Railers all say they will return for the 2021-22 season. . . . The Atlanta Gladiators and Norfolk Admirals had already opted out of the season. . . . Players from teams that don’t play become free agents, but only for the 2020-21 season. . . .

The ECHL has 13 teams preparing to open the season on Dec. 11. . . . From thesinbin.net: “For the remaining five teams that were to start on January 15, 2021 — Cincinnati, Fort Wayne, Idaho, Kalamazoo, and Toledo — the deadline to opt out comes in 12 days. Allen, Florida, Greenville, Indy, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Orlando, Rapid City, South Carolina, Tulsa, Utah, Wheeling and Wichita all are scheduled to start play on December 11, 2020 and there hasn’t been any indication of that timetable being pushed back due to the latest surge in coronavirus cases.” . . . There is more on the story right here.

The SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers, the only Manitoba-based team in the league, are FlinFlonlooking for permission to shift their base of operations to Creighton, Sask., during the pandemic. Due to restrictions put in place by the Manitoba government and health officials, the Bombers aren’t allowed to practice or play in Flin Flon’s Whitney Forum. . . . If given the OK by health officials, they would practise in Creighton and play all of their games on the road so long as the restrictions are in place. . . . Creighton is less than two miles southwest of Flin Flon.

Carter Brooks of gameonhockey.ca has his story right here, and Skylar Peters of Global News in Winnipeg has a story right here.

Wiretap

COVID-19 CHRONICLES . . .

CBC News: Canada-United States border closure extended again, this time until December 21st, CBC News has learned. The formal announcement is to be made later this week.

Jill Macyshon, CTV Manitoba: 11 more COVID-19 deaths in Manitoba today. Three deaths linked to Golden Links Lodge in Winnipeg. 400 new cases identified today in Mb. 239 of those cases in Winnipeg. The five-day test positivity rate is now over 14 percent.

CBC News: Manitoba to introduce $298 fine for people not wearing a mask in public.

CBC News: Saskatchewan records 132 new COVID-19 cases and 1 additional death. In the previous 7 days, the province had been averaging 173 cases a day.

Marc Smith, CTV Regina: This is the 7th death in the past 12 days. Hospitalizations hit a record high (76) for the 10th straight day, while the province also has a record 17 people in ICU. The 132 new cases came on only 1,619 tests, which is an 8.2 per cent positivity rate.

CBC News: Alberta reports 11 more COVID-19 deaths, 732 new infections. Province now has 10,057 active cases, slight decrease from the day before.

Janet Brown, CKNW Vancouver: Latest covid19 BC numbers: 762 new cases, 481 in Fraser Health region; 10 more people have died for total 320; 209 people hospital (+11), 58 ICU (-5), 9871 in self isolation.

Scott Brown, Postmedia Vancouver: B.C. Premier John Horgan calls for restrictions on inter-provincial travel. “People of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba need to know that they should stay in Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, until . . . we can start distributing a vaccine across the country.”

CBC News: Ontario is reporting 1,417 new cases of COVID-19. That’s consistent with the province’s 7-day average, which is 1,422. 463 of the cases are in Peel Region, with 410 in Toronto and 178 in York Region. . . . Ontario reported 32 more deaths linked to COVID-19 today — the most on any single day during the second wave of the pandemic.

CBC News: 35 more deaths in Quebec are being attributed to COVID-19. The province is also reporting another 1,179 new cases; that brings Quebec’s 7-day average down to 1,243 from 1,272.

CBC News: New Brunswick reports 9 more COVID-19 cases, the highest daily total since October 11th. The province’s average for the previous 7-days was 3.4.

CBC News: 10 new COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed in Nunavut, bringing the territory’s total to 70; all have occurred in the last 2 weeks. 8 new cases are in the community of Arviat (population 2,400) on Hudson Bay’s west coast.

CBC News: U.S. leads the world in COVID-19 deaths as toll exceeds 250,000. Number of people hospitalized with the virus in the U.S. has doubled in the past month.

The New York Times: Hundreds of health care workers at the Mayo Clinic have become infected with the coronavirus as the prestigious hospital system treats rapidly growing numbers of patients with Covid-19.

The New York Times: “No one is happy about this decision,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said, after announcing that the New York City public school system would shut down a second time. Virus case numbers are rising so quickly in the city that more restrictions appear likely.

The New York Times: Kentucky will close schools beginning next week, ban indoor service at bars and restaurants, and impose new limits on indoor gatherings, Gov. Andy Beshear announced, citing a steep rise in coronavirus cases in the state.

——

F Ridly Greig of the Brandon Wheat Kings hasn’t yet reported to the Canadian national junior team’s selection camp in Red Deer. Now we know why . . .

A hockey league in Saskatoon for skaters ages 60 and older has shut down after experiencing four positive tests. . . . Theresa Kliem of CBC News has more right here. . . .

The NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders, who are scheduled to visit the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, now have 11 players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. DE Clelin Ferrell went on the list Tuesday after testing positive. He was followed on Wednesday  by S Johnathan Abram, DT Maliek Collins, DT Johnathan Hankins, DT Kendal Vickers, DE Arden Key, CB Isaiah Johnson and pratice squad DE David Irving, all of whom were deemed high-risk close contacts. . . . DB Lamarcus Joyner also is on the list. LB Cory Littleton and OT Trent Brown and been on the list since earlier in the month. . . . Players who were deemed close contacts will be able to play Sunday if they continue to test negative. . . .

The Cleveland Browns have placed K Cody Parkey, OT Jack Conklin and long snapper Charley Hughlett on the reserve-COVID-19 list. . . . They are at home to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. . . .

Kunlun Red Star arrived in Helsinki on Wednesday to play a KHL game against Jokerit. However, the game was postponed when Kunlun had several positive tests show up. . . .

The Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) has cancelled its fall season, meaning now men’s and women’s basketball or volleyball seasons.  The association had delayed its fall season in the hopes of playing in the winter semester, but now that won’t happen. . . . The association features teams from 10 colleges throughout B.C. . . .

The U of Maine was to have opened its men’s hockey season this weekend against UMass, but has postponed both home games. Maine now hopes to open next weekend at UConn. . . . Connecticut was to have played Vermont this weekend, but Vermont has paused things for now. . . . So it has been worked out for UMass and UConn to play each other. . . .

The Colorado State at UNLV football game scheduled for Saturday won’t be played because what UNLV athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois called “the surge in cases in the Las Vegas community.” . . . Earlier Wednesday, it was announced that another Mountain West game, Wyoming at Utah State, wouldn’t be happening either.

Loyola U in Chicago has paused its athletic department, other than the women’s basketball team, because of positive tests. The Loyola Phoenix reported that sources had told it that “the majority” of the men’s basketball team had tested positive.

Psychic

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6A Providence Building

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Fax: 604-806-9873

Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

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Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre

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JUST NOTES: The Spokane Chiefs have signed general manager Scott Carter to a two-year contract extension that goes through the 2022-23 season. He has been the GM through four seasons. . . . Tyler Valin has joined the AJHL’s Whitecourt Wolverines as an assistant coach. He has been the head coach of the Alberta Midget Hockey League’s Fort Saskatchewan Rangers for the past three seasons. In Whitecourt, he will be working alongside Shawn Martin, the general manager and head coach. . . . The SJHL’s La Ronge Ice Wolves announced on Wednesday that they have signed Kevin Kaminski, their GM/head coach, and Gaelan Patterson, the assistant GM/associate coach, to “new multi-year contracts.”

Robber