Manitoba Is Back On Pause

On a day where we lost long-time hockey fans and Canadian icons Alex Trebek and Howie Meeker, Manitoba scored a hat trick of bad news as the southern portion of the province officially moves back to Code Red in its pandemic response. I could turn this into a political speech that lashes out at the horrific efforts being put forth by the Progressive Conservative government here in Manitoba, but I won't. I think we all know that people like Brian Pallister, Cameron Friesen, and the rest of the Conservatives in office have played a large role in where we stand. Instead, I want to talk about the hockey community who has, for the most part, done a good job in following the rules.

The new Code Red enforcement that starts tomorrow means that all hockey is back on pause here in Manitoba across the southern portion of the province. While the province itself works to try to get a hold on the increasing cases and resulting deaths, sports should be on the back-burner while a population battles a pandemic. Sports are the result of a healthy, functioning soceity, and Manitoba is far from healthy and nowhere near functioning properly.

Bartley Kives of CBC accurately wrote, "In the span of 120 days — the gestation period of a domestic pig — Winnipeg and the surrounding area went from pandemic first to pandemic worst." We currently sit with one of the worst positivity rates seen in Canada. We have the highest number of cases per capita across the nation. Our deaths are skyrocketing. Manitoba has been, in a word, awful in its safety-mindedness and its response to how to handle increasing cases.

That being said, the hockey community, from what I saw on webstreams, was following the rules. Crowds were extremely sparse, coaches and players were respecting dressing protocols, and cases seen in Manitoba hockey were few if any. The hockey community should be commended for their efforts, and that goes from players to coaches to fans to arena staff in ensuring that hockey was able to be played for the short time we had it available to us.

Hockey Manitoba's Return to Play policies had some effect, but it really comes down to everyone buying into the rules and it seems like everyone did here in Manitoba. By all accounts, everyone did as well as the number of cases coming out of hockey team contact tracing either wasn't being tracked (very likely) or there simply weren't contact traces to be done (unlikely). The catch on that last statement is that teams didn't report large outbreaks of cases or contact tracing where games had to be put on hold as we saw in the QMJHL, and that speaks volumes to respecting and following the rules that were set out.

If I'm being honest, this is an appreciation post for the teams who were playing hockey and following the rules. It's fairly clear that the general population here in Manitoba can't follow simple rules such as keeping distances, reducing congregations, wearing masks, and staying home unless absolutely necessary to venture outside, but the fact that we had multiple leagues running with games happening in various communities suggests that hockey players in Manitoba understood and were following the rules.

I miss hockey. I miss the smell of the rink when you walk through the doors. I miss the sound of pucks rattling off the glass and boards. I miss the smiles and joy on kids faces after a good game. I miss the hugs between parents and kids after games following a big moment on the ice. I miss teammates welcoming one another as they meet at the rink. I miss parents talking about their lives as they wait in line for a cup of coffee to battle the cold of the arena. I miss the cold in the arena. I miss being at the arena. I miss the drives to the arena to set up the radio equipment. I miss my colleagues in the broadcast booth. I simply miss everything about hockey and the winter routines I had.

It's time to get our acts together, Manitoba. I know I'm not any type of influencer in any way, but please stay home and stop gathering with family and friends for the next few weeks. We complain about everything we're missing, yet we continue to ruin future events by not being mindful of the present. If you're still gathering in this time and it's not for absolutely necessary reasons, it's simply selfish at this point and I'm tired of people not taking this seriously.

We're better than this, Manitoba. If you're not going to follow the rules for everyone, please do it for the kids so they can come back and play hockey this winter. It's not hard to stay home until the beginning of December and watch movies, spend time with family, or decorate the house for the holidays. Let's get our acts together so we can get together soon. Again.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!