Global News reported Tuesday that the several hockey teams are moving into the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon to allow Merlis Belsher Place, a fairly new arena at the University of Saskatchewan, to be used as a field hospital in the event of a second wave of COVID-19.
SaskTel Centre is a 15,000 seat arena that was built in 1988. Merlis Belsher Place is a 2,700 seat arena on the University of Saskatchewan campus that was built in 2018 and has two 200-by-85-foot ice surfaces.
According to the article, “{Both} the men’s and women’s Saskatchewan Huskies hockey teams, with U Sports, as well as the SMAAAHL’s Saskatoon Contacts and thee Saskatoon Stars, of the SFMAAAHL, are coming over temporarily from Merlis Belscher Place.”
Although the SaskTel Centre is a 15,000 seat arena, it hosts a larger amount of hockey than many facilities of its size. They have a 24-team adult hockey league that is scheduled to start in later in September.
This story is perplexing, considering that Saskatchewan does not appear to have any large outbreaks of COVID-19. According to the Province of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon currently has 322 positive cases, of which 47 are currently active. Saskatoon is a city of approximately 250,000 people.