The Soo Greyhounds have a break until after Boxing Day and have so far avoided having their schedule suspended due to COVID-19, even as other sports leagues like the NHL are shutting down cross-border play due to a rising number of cases of the Omicron variant.
The GFL Memorial Gardens has been capped at 50 per cent capacity since November, when increasing cases of COVID-19 forced Algoma Public Health to put it into effect.
More recently, the province put the same restriction on crowds in other sports facilities across Ontario in response to a growing number of Omicron variant cases being detected.
Since the start of the season, fans attending Greyhounds games must show proof of vaccination to be allowed in the arena, a policy put in place by the Ontario Hockey League.
Gerry Liscumb Jr., the Greyhounds director of public relations, noted the reduced capacity in the 4,900 seat arena has affected ticket sales for the Greyhounds in a similar way as other businesses.
“We will continue to work within the parameters provided to us by the government, and are hopeful to return to a full capacity at the GFL Memorial Gardens as soon as deemed safe to do so,” he said.
Operating under the Ontario Hockey League’s ‘safe return to play’ guidelines, the team has so far managed to avoid having its schedule suspended, unlike some teams like the Sudbury Wolves and Flint Firebirds.
That has forced the team to postpone three games so far against Sudbury — one on Dec. 1 and two more on Dec. 10 and 12. The next game the Greyhounds play is Dec. 29 against the Wolves.
“To this point we have been very fortunate that there has been no negative impact within our organization, but cannot go without mentioning the hard work and diligence of all members teams within our league,” said Liscumb.
The Greyhounds are sitting a the top of the OHL’s West Division, with a record of 15 and 9.
“We are thinking of all of the teams affected, along with all those affected within our province and across the country. We encourage those that are eligible to receive their vaccination and/or booster shot so that the days ahead are positive for us all,” he added.
On Sunday the NHL announced it was suspending cross-border play until at least after Christmas because of an increase in Omicron cases, but so far the OHL has not followed suit.