Hi, this is Fred Wallace with ” Off the Wire “,….. proudly sponsored by Pete’s Auto Body.
Pete’s Auto Body; because we care about our community….
I told you yesterday we would look at the draw schedule for the Port Elgin Chrysler ’22 Ontario Tankard Powered by Bruce Power which begins Wednesday night.
We’re going to deviate just a bit today and we’ll get back to the Tankard tomorrow and as the week unfolds.
Instead, let me take a moment to try and unravel the tangled fishing line that connects the Owen Sound Attack & the Erie Otters.
The Attack are scheduled to be in Erie tomorrow morning for a game at 11 and then a rematch on Thursday night at 6 pm.
That’s not the issue.
The problem is; can Owen Sound ice a team, or a competitive team, based on the protocols and criteria ?
Follow me………………………….
Owen Sound has 24 players, 4 of whom I would be stunned to see in the lineup in the short term due to significant ailments or injuries; Steen, Seed, Bonaiuto & Lawrence are out which drops the roster to 20.
The OHL minimum for a game is 17, so the Attack are in good shape…….except 3 of their players are European.
And here’s the catch; let’s say any person on the Attack bus has a positive test for COVID 19, that positive test would impact the entire group. Under the guidelines, as I understand it, all those born in Canada would be permitted back into the country to quarantine.
However, those NOT born in Canada would have to quarantine IN the United States at considerable expense to a small market team whose revenue stream has been gutted by the pandemic
So Owen Sound can’t take the chance of taking Chibrikov, Petrovsky and Machacek to Pennsylvania, which drops the number of players to 17, IF everyone is healthy and no one gets suspended.
Finally, I am perplexed by the insistence in league and other circles to conduct one game, if not two.
Since January 1st, only ONE Ontario based OHL team has played in the States; the Kitchener Rangers. And from that excursion there’s a wild tale that may be fact or fiction about how the teams handled COVID protocols and border crossing.
We’ll get back to the Tankard tomorrow.
For Pete’s Auto Body, I’m Fred Wallace.