The Ontario Hockey League is doing their due diligence in trying to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus. They have sent out a memo indicating they have notified their member teams, including the North Bay Battalion, that they should change up some of the normal day to day habits.
That will include limiting dressing room access to players, coaches and support staff only. Media access will only be held in designated areas outside dressing rooms.
They ask teams to eliminate handshakes between teammates, opponents, and officials. They also say players should not share water bottles or towels on benches or penalty box areas. Lastly, they want the teams to avoiding direct contact with fans, including high-fives, handshakes, and autographing of items.
“How it’s going to affect us is, unfortunately, there’s going to be a lot of things that we want to do in the area of community outreach, in terms of recruiting and showing off our building that we won’t be able to do,” says Battalion General Manager Adam Dennis.
“Things like the fist bumps when we come out (during games) we’re going to have to cease those until we get further direction from the league. It’s obviously something we take seriously, and it is a serious matter and we want to make sure the safety of our players is at the forefront.”
Dennis says, for the most part they were doing certain things as a team already. Especially when it comes to the hygienic best practices in dressing rooms and team busses which the league also outlined in its memo. He says, “if one player gets the flu you don’t want seven players to get the flu, so there are things that you have to put in place right in the forefront. There are things that we have done before and now we’re locking it up even tighter based on suggestions from the league and we’ll continue to do so as we get updated.”
The Battalion is heading to Sudbury for a game this coming Tuesday and earlier today (March 11th) Sudbury became the first city in Northern Ontario to report a confirmed case of COVID-19. Dennis says, “I think we prepare just as we would, and the players will get on the bus and play hockey the same way.”
“It’s the management team and support staff that will make sure there is hand sanitizer out and that everyone is properly following the best practices.”
“It is nice to know they are looking out for us,” says Battalion overage forward Shane Bulitka.
“Nothing major changes, the guys just have to practice good hygiene and good habits.”
And that’s a good message to anyone right now whether you’re a hockey player or a hockey fan.
