Ridiculous

If the image to the left of Natalie Spooner and Alexandra Vafina wearing masks in their game on Monday isn't enough proof that the rules in China are being ignored by teams, the announcement today that Russian forward Polina Bolgareva had tested positive for COVID-19 should make the Olympic organizers and the IOC sit up and take notice. To have a COVID-19 outbreak after everyone was required to test negative a number of times to simply gain access to the Olympics seems a little suspicious on the surface, and one has to wonder if the negative tests that the Russians recorded to board their plane to China were even done. It's not like Russia hasn't been in trouble for their test results in the past.

Russia played with just 18 players on Tuesday against the Finns in a game where they lost 5-0 after eight players had returned positive tests. They're now scheduled to meet Switzerland in their quarterfinal game on Saturday, and the uncertainty of who will be available and how many players will be eligible to play hangs in the air. As we know, the Omicron variant spreads quickly, and the Russians opted to play without masks for the third period against Canada. That would mean players on the Russian bench may have been exposed to Polina Bolgareva. If she was symptomatic, Russia might be in deep trouble come the weekend.

As it stands, Bolgareva joins Viktoria Kulishova, Yelena Dergachyova, and Angelina Goncharenko on the quaratine list for Russia as those four players have returned positive test results. One hopes that there won't be any further positive tests simply to keep the integrity of the tournament at its highest, but this was always the concern with the Russian squad.

As we saw in the KHL, they were forced to shut their professional men's hockey season down for a week after an outbreak of cases among teams in that league. The men's team who is set to play tomorrow is also facing COVID-19 issues as they prepare for their game against Switzerland in the preliminary round, and the questions of how they were allowed to land in China with these issues presenting themselves now puts the microscope on China's policies when it comes to controlling COVID-19 at the Olympics.

I'm not here to point fingers at the Russians for playing the game. The IOC and the IIHF made their decision, and both Canada and Finland adpated by donning masks before dominating the Russians. What I don't understand, though, is how the Chinese government's insistence of daily testing has allowed COVID-19 to not only enter the Olympic Village, but spread within the team when there were supposed to be strict quarantining of athletes who tested positive in order to prevent the spread from happening.

Combine that with the Russians removing their masks in the third period yesterday against Canada, and there's a pretty easy reason to see why there may be a COVID-19 outbreak in the next couple of days for the Russians. It's written in Cyrillic as "Мы делаем то, что хотим" and it translates to "We do what we want".

Since Chinese officials seem uninterested in forcing the Russians to play by the rules they imposed on the Finnish men's hockey team, one has to wonder if the remaining games for all teams against Russia will require masks. At this point, it seems like the safest way to proceed despite China's promises of testing and strict rules.

Of course, if the Russians play like they did against Finland, there may only be one game remaining for them. Maybe the Swiss can do everyone a favour and end the threat of COVID-19 at the women's hockey tournament by eliminating the Russians on Saturday.

At the end of the day, that may be the best cure for this problem.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!