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PLAYING FIELD: Hotham hoping AAA playoffs won't be iced by COVID

The former NHLer dreads more cancellations; 'If that happens, all these kids will have again worked so hard for nothing,' he lamented
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Anxiety levels are going down, capacity limits are up and masks are coming off.

After two years of cancellations and false starts, the local minor hockey season is slated to end naturally and on time.

That hasn’t happened since 2019.

That doesn’t mean that COVID isn’t still out there, we all know that it is. In fact, public health officials have made no secret of the fact that a fall flareup could happen again.

When kids return to school after March break on Monday they’ll do so without requiring masks. There has been considerable debate whether that is premature.

Sports officials locally have their fingers crossed that the hockey season can end without one being imposed on it like the past two years.

These developments assume things remain status quo.

Barrie AAA chair Greg Hotham is uncomfortable making those assumptions.

“If a player on the Leafs or Raptors tests positive, he is required to quarantine but the teams can still play,” pointed out Hotham, who is a retired NHL player himself and currently serves as Leafs Alumni president.

“If one of our teams have a positive test, we can be shut down 10 days, the entire team.”

Hotham made it clear in recent chats he fears the final, critical days of provincial playoffs could be compromised because local health officials have the power to pull the plug.

“I think it’s now better to treat (COVID) like we would other (public health issues), with reasonable precautions,” he said, pointing out that players in his organization are vaccinated in line with provincial regulations.

Hotham is not a knuckle-dragger, nor is he an anti-vaxxer. He agrees with vaccination being a precondition of participation; he’s had both shots, and is boosted. His own battles with pneumonia in the past have made him appreciate his own health limitations.

“If they say to have a second booster,” he explains, “I’m getting it.”

Hotham’s issue with the current situation is that his players and teams could have their seasons end even as the wider world is moving ahead. And if that, unfortunately, does happen that it could/would be an arbitrary action that will kill a team‘s season in the midst of a championship run.

Hotham’s view may seem unreasonable to some. Indeed, a minor hockey team in Orillia had cases recently and was allowed to play (minus those players who tested positive).

But if you parse the recent comments Dr. Charles Gardner made in his press release reacting to provincial regulations being eased, Simcoe-Muskoka’s top doc clearly believes that COVID public health risks remain in his jurisdiction.

Three weeks ago, a game between the Barrie Colts and Peterborough was cancelled because of cases on the Petes. It was a stark reminder that we’re not out of the woods yet.

Hotham dreads the thought of his players going through more cancellations. Though he is not involved in the Barrie Minor Hockey or Sharks organizations, he also empathizes with those players and officials. All three organizations combined have about 1,000 players, more than half of which are still playing.

“If that happens,” Hotham says of a worst-case cancellation scenario, “all these kids will have again worked so hard for nothing.


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Peter Robinson

About the Author: Peter Robinson

Barrie's Peter Robinson is a sports columnist for BarrieToday. He is the author of Hope and Heartbreak in Toronto, his take on living with the disease of being a Leafs fan.
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