The Canadian Press reported that the Greater Toronto Hockey League has paused its planned activities for the rest of 2020. The article explains the decision was made “as cases of the novel coronavirus continue to soar in Ontario’s most populous city.”
The league said it is acting on advice from the City of Toronto Health Department.
The GTHL was scheduled to return to the ice on October 7, only a few days from now, after being completely shut down since March 12. Their plan to return to the ice will be delayed until at least January 1, 2021.
Only yesterday the Medical Officer of Health called for a four-week suspension of indoor team sports in Toronto, with a colleague citing lack of compliance with mask-wearing and social distancing.
The rate at which hockey is shutting down in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) comes as a shock, but CityNews reported Friday that COVID-19 new case counts are expected to rise to 1,000 per day in Ontario by mid-October.
Thanks to Jeff Prendergast of P4 Hockey Performance for telling RinkAtlas about this latest development in the attempt to relaunch amateur hockey in Toronto.
How Other Publications Cover This Story
- Sean Fitz-Gerald in The Athletic, What the GTHL shut down means for teams, players and Toronto hockey families: “Unlike the previous shutdown in March, which came from Hockey Canada, Oakman said this is only a pause. This is not a cancellation, he said, because there is still hope that part of a season could begin in January: ‘We’re obviously going to monitor as we move through the rest of the fall and speak regularly with the health officials who have been guiding us along the way.’” {Subscription required to read full article.}