Yesterday Paul Day, President of the Mid-American District Hockey, Inc., sent a memo to the local membership of the Mid-American District of USA Hockey, stating the following:
… it is the {Mid-American Hockey District’s} position that ice hockey games in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania may now occur with full participation of team rosters, officials and coaches.
This memo came one day after Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine asserted that U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV’s ruling does not invalidate the business occupancy restrictions currently in place for indoor recreation facilities such as ice arenas, and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf said his administration would repeal Judge Stickman’s decision.
The memo points out many of the same issues that the Atlantic Amateur Hockey Association has been trying to address with its Let Hockey Play lobbying campaign. However, the memo goes one step further by saying that Judge Stickman’s ruling makes moot the executive orders limiting the number of participants in a hockey game.
Day’s memo goes on to say:
I strongly recommend that your Clubs limit access to only those essential players (two rosters of teams participating in a game) staff, and officials in occupying the ice rink and immediate adjacent area of the playing surface; ie No spectators. Just for the immediate term. COVID mitigation efforts remain important. It’s important that all of our clubs in Pennsylvania show restraint.
RinkAtlas awaits news about the Wolf Administration’s appeal of Judge Stickman’s ruling.