Toronto relaxes COVID-19 rink rules as winter activities move ‘toward normal’
Troy Brouwer sits beside his team in the press box on the way to play the Boston Bruins in a game on Wednesday.
Troy Brouwer sits beside his team in the press box on the way to play the Boston Bruins in a game on Wednesday. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
A big part of the reason to ease up on rink rules around the Great North Air Hockey Association season, however, is the NHL’s own COVID-19 pandemic.
The players weren’t asked to do any more than the NHL expects from those they allow into practice space at the time – except that players can be in the rink between 40 and 60 minutes.
It’s not a major change for NHL players, but it’s a significant improvement on the current rules that haven’t changed since 2009, when the league implemented a two-hour limit during intermissions during games. That’s one reason why the association is sticking to its current schedule for this year’s events – which began last week in Winnipeg.
“We can get back into playing hockey as soon as we can at the most appropriate time for us,” said Paul Rizzo, the group’s president. “We just want to do it in a manner that minimizes risk and maximizes the benefit of our members and the families of our member families.”
The NHL says it can get back into action as soon as it can.
“We are going to work around this and we will have a schedule to try to make it better,” NHL vice president of communications Bob McKenzie said.
The league is working on a plan to allow players to get back to hockey by early June, the earliest possible date that is possible. The first two weeks in March will be used as