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The upcoming Canada West season is providing a unique situation for both the men’s and women’s University of Saskatchewan (U of S) Huskies Hockey seasons.
With the teams’ home under construction to become a field hospital through the COVID-19 pandemic, the Huskies have had to alter their planning for 2020-21. The Canada West formatting for the upcoming season with both groups includes 10 home and 10 away games for the clubs.
Chief athletics officer for the Huskies, Dave Hardy says nothing is set in stone, but they are looking at other options- both in and outside of Saskatoon.
“Many of our players on both our men’s and women’s teams are from Saskatchewan, and different places in Saskatchewan,” he told 650 CKOM Wednesday. “(We might) host some of our home games away from Saskatoon, in other hockey-centric venues.”
Those venues include Prince Albert, Humboldt, North Battleford, Warman and the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon. Hardy said discussions with the other cities have gone well so far, with interest on both sides of the table.
Still, there’s a lot up in the air according to Hardy.
“COVID-19 has got everybody juggling plans,” he said. “We’re awaiting the CanadaWest schedule before we can (pencil) some names and dates in.”
As for practice times, Hardy said scheduling is underway with the City of Saskatoon to find times that work for both parties. He said he doesn’t want to take away valuable, prime ice time for Saskatoon Minor Hockey, or others using city facilities.
Hardy said he was proud of the University for stepping up and greeting the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) with open arms in the COVID response.
Hardy explained that the game-day operations side of hosting Huskies game is early to speculate, but he expects that the venues will house the event, with the Huskies bringing what is needed to showcase their teams.
The Huskies have also created an internal committee for the upcoming return to sport, according to Hardy. He said there will be a return in the future, but the details are still murky when it comes to new regulations or what sport will look like.
When the time comes to deconstruct and clean the facility, Hardy said that it will take some time to change the facility back into the raucous arena that those attending Huskie games are used to.
When the Huskies’ home does end up housing hockey, Hardy says it would signal a welcome outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“That (would mean) we sort of, beat this pandemic. We’re hopeful, but at the same time given our current scenario that we need to plan for- the fact that it won’t be available,” he explained.
SHA CEO Scott Livingstone joined Gormley Wednesday morning to chat about its plans for Merlis Belsher Place and said construction is ongoing.
He said they are putting things in place, such as ordering equipment and signing leases to facilitate the field hospital at Merlis Belsher Place.
“Just because we’re not seeing cases today, doesn’t mean COVID is not out there,” he explained. “We need to ensure that we have capacity across the system to deal with anything that happens, both a COVID surge or considerable bed capacity issues associated with other things, not just reopening the system.”
Merlis Belsher Place originally opened its doors in October 2018. The twin-pad facility is the home to both Huskies hockey teams, along with the Saskatoon Contacts and Stars U18 AAA teams.