Everything is a mess

SAINT JOHN - This time last week, the Saint John Sea Dogs were cruising.

The team had won three straight; they looked poised to finally win a road game; and the club had signed one of their top prospects in Simon Hughes.

The past few days have shown just how quickly things can turn in COVID times.

It's unclear when the Sea Dogs - along with the other five Maritimes Division clubs - will be action again. Three of the six teams - Saint John, Halifax and Cape Breton (sort of) have been shutdown directly by COVID while three of the six - Saint John, Moncton and Charlottetown (maybe?) - have some kind of travel restriction in their market.

Things are, as they say, not good.

Here's a breakdown of what we know.

Saint John Sea Dogs

A Sea Dogs staff member tested positive for COVID-19 last Thursday. Fortunately, that person did not travel with the team to Sydney last week. No players or other staff members have tested positive (that we are aware of). The team won't be able to play any games until the Saint John region is moved out of the orange phase and back into the yellow. 11 new cases were announced in the region on Monday.

Moncton Wildcats

Like the Saint John region, the Moncton area is in the orange and will not be able to play games until they're flipped back into yellow. The new case count isn't growing as quickly as the Saint John area, which is good.

Halifax Mooseheads

The Mooseheads postponed their games this past Saturday and this coming Wednesday due to a staff member testing positive for COVID. The employee had not been in contact with any players or hockey staff, the team said in a statement. When they'll resume play hasn't been confirmed. The New Brunswick government has also issued a travel advisory for anyone returning from the Halifax area due to community spread of the virus.

Cape Breton Eagles

The Eagles hosted the Sea Dogs last Wednesday, which meant they were forced to take a breather in case any Dogs players tested positive. The team couldn't play in Moncton this past weekend anyways because of travel restrictions and their game this Wednesday has been postponed by the Mooseheads. When they'll resume play has not been confirmed.

Charlottetown Islanders

PEI bolted from the Atlantic Bubble on Monday for at least a couple weeks. In a surprise move (PEI has been running a tight ship since the pandemic began), the Islanders announced that the provincial government had given them clearance to continue playing despite travel restrictions to the Island. Then this was tweeted:

The tweet has since been deleted along with the Islanders' original tweet and news release. So... stay tuned to see what happens with all that.

Acadie-Bathurst Titan

All good to go. Shout out to them. Unfortunately, it seems they have nobody to play at the moment.

It certainly seems like we're poised to see a break in Maritimes Division play for a week or two at least - but, as mentioned, things can change quickly in COVID times.

In Quebec, only four of the 12 teams are able to play in their home markets. Seven teams are playing in the Quebec City bubble (which ends on Friday) while poor Sherbrooke is not able to play at all.

The first half of the QMJHL's regular season is scheduled to end on Dec. 19.