Better To Be Safe Than Sorry

They had already started cancelling tournaments across Europe and Asia, but the IIHF made the announcement today that the 2020 IIHF Women's World Championship in Halifax and Truro, Nova Scotia would be cancelled due to the threat of the coronavirus outbreak. This is a big move to cancel the biggest annual tournament in women's hockey as seen by the reaction on social media, but it makes sense based on how the virus is transmitted. According to reports, both the government of Nova Scotia and Hockey Canada were in favour of this decision by the IIHF, so the 2020 tournament has officially been shut down.

For those calling this an unprecedented move, this has happened fairly recently as the 2003 tournament slated for Beijing, China was also cancelled due to a virus outbreak as SARS was the concern at that time. And I'd be remiss to note that the 1919 Stanley Cup Final was cancelled for an outbreak of the Spanish flu, so we have seen big hockey events cancelled for the greater good when it comes to preventing the spread of these viruses.

The announcement today by the IIHF would mark the seventh IIHF championship tournament that the organization has cancelled in recent weeks due to the coronavirus threat. With the IIHF and professional sports leagues across the planet taking extra precautions to ensure the safety of players, fans, staff, officials, and volunteers at events, it is disappointing not to have a championship for the women's best international squads, but common sense has to prevail here.

According to a report by Donna Spencer of The Canadian Press, the request to cancel the tournament was prompted by the Nova Scotia health authority after "the Japanese women's team requested early arrival in Canada to avoid a possible quarantine in their own country".

"Public health comes first," Halifax Mayor Mike Savage told Spencer today. "It's going to be a great disappointment to people. But I don't quarrel with the decision."

Officially, IIHF President Rene Fasel made the following statement today.

"It is with great regret that we must take this action. It was not an easy decision to make, as we were greatly looking forward to hosting this tournament in Canada. Nevertheless, the decision has been made due to safety concerns for the well-being of players, officials, and spectators.

"Ultimately the IIHF Council feels that there has not been enough of an improvement to the coronavirus situation to allow us to safely host a 10-team international tournament within this timeframe. We look forward to coming to Canada in 2021."

With that announcement today, the IIHF has already pledged that the 2021 IIHF Women's World Hockey Championship will be played in Halifax and Truro to make up for the change in plans, and they would honour all ticket purchases made this year at next year's tournament. It sounds as though they won't be issuing refunds for ticket purchases, so clear your schedules now for next year's tournament if you have tickets or perhaps find a place where you can sell your tickets if you can't make next year's event. One way or another, Halifax and Truro are still going to see the best women's hockey players the world has to offer.

For those asking, the IIHF will wait until mid-April to decide whether or not the 2020 IIHF Men's World Championship in Switzerland should proceed, and will meet later in the month to monitor the situation across the globe. For the record, Switzerland has 227 confirmed cases of coronoavirus and has seen one death, but the threat just across the southern Swiss border in Italy is far worse with 5883 confirmed cases of the virus which has resulted in 233 deaths. Needless to say, the IIHF will need to treat this situation very delicately as it seems the threat of infection may be very real in that area of the world.

Does it suck that there won't be a Women's World Championship this year? Absolutely. However, it's better to err on the side of caution in a potential virus outbreak when one considers that there may be visitors from all over the globe landing in, staying in, and visiting Nova Scotia for this event. There's no need to put anyone at risk for the sake of an annual medal presentation, and the IIHF made the right decision here.

Now go ahead and make what seems to be a very elementary decision regarding the imminent threat present in that part of the world by canceling the men's tournament as well.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!