QMJHL takes a holiday pause

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is officially on a pause.

In a not-so-surprising announcement on Monday, the league confirmed that it will be "pausing its activities" from Dec. 1 until Jan. 3. According to the statement, "the decision was communicated to QMJHL Members and General Managers during a meeting held earlier today."

With the Quebec City bubble over, only four teams - the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, Val-d'Or Foreurs, Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Rimouski Oceanic - would be able to play games because of travel restrictions.

“The current situation with the pandemic in the regions in which we operate makes it extremely difficult to play games,” QMJHL commissioner Gilles Courteau said in the statement. “With the Holidays just around the corner, the provinces in the Maritimes have restricted access and travel, while red zone restrictions in Quebec do not permit us to play.”

The Jan. 3 restart is a nice thought, but it seems very unlikely unless there is a dramatic reduction in COVID-19 spread over the next few weeks. Even if out-of-province players returned to their markets on Boxing Day, the 14-day quarantine would keep them out of action. Add to that the fact that players won't be able to go from quarantine to game action without some practice... mid-January seems like the absolute earliest we'll see QMJHL games.

Considérant qu'il faudra une quarantaine obligatoire pour les joueurs avant de recommencer à jouer, on peut alors penser que la pause des activités de la #LHJMQ va s'étirer jusqu'aux alentours du 20 janvier prochain.

La Ligue fera un bilan de son expérience à Québec demain AM.

— Mikaël Lalancette (@MikLalancette) November 30, 2020

The Saint John Sea Dogs' first game after the holiday break is scheduled for Jan. 6 in Cape Breton. The team has not played since Nov. 18 due to a team staff member testing positive for COVID-19 and travel restrictions being placed on the Saint John region.

While intra-provincial restrictions are an issue, so too is travel within the Atlantic Bubble. And while placing the six Maritime teams in a bubble of their own could be a solution, that seems more unlikely than what is being proposed in Quebec (bubbles have proven to be quite expensive as well). The six Maritime teams have not received provincial government funding like the 12 Quebec teams have been given, meaning ticket revenue - the little they can get, at least - is a necessity.

The league will be holding a media conference tomorrow where some questions about the league's restart plan may be addressed.

Notebook: Patenaude invited to Swiss camp

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Saint John Sea Dogs goaltender Noah Patenaude has been invited to Switzerland's world junior training camp.

According to a news release, the team's training camp begins Dec. 6 in Switzerland. After a first round of the cuts, the reaming players will travel to the Edmonton bubble on Dec. 13. The team is scheduled to make its final cuts on Dec. 23 after two pre-tournament games (Dec. 20 vs USA and Dec. 22 vs Sweden).

Congrats @Noahpatenaude1 ! Good luck! https://t.co/PDPTDfXtPF

— Anthony Stella (@AnthonyStella_) November 23, 2020

Four goaltenders were invited to the camp and the team is expected to carry three for the tournament. Patenaude, a dual Canadian/Swiss citizen, is the only one of the four currently playing in North America. 

Patenaude has arguably been Saint John's MVP this season, posting a 4-6 record to go along with a 3.62 goals against average and a .889 save percentage.

Former Sea Dogs goaltender Robert Mayer played for Switzerland at the 2008 World Junior Hockey Championship.

SCHEDULE CHANGES

The QMJHL confirmed Tuesday that Saint John's weekend games have been postponed.

The Sea Dogs were scheduled to host the Acadie-Bathurst Titan on Saturday and Halifax Mooseheads on Sunday. Saint John's games last weekend were also postponed along with Wednesday's match against Moncton.

Officially, Saint John's next scheduled game is next Thursday, Dec. 3 against the Cape Breton Eagles at TD Station. The Saint John area will have to be out of the orange phase and back into the yellow for there to be any chance of that game happening.

No games are scheduled in the Maritimes this weekend.

AUS SEASON CANCELLED

Atlantic University Sport announced Wednesday that the conference's winter sport season - which includes hockey - has been cancelled.

There was a bit of good news though. The "AUS will allow member-driven competition for the upcoming winter semester," meaning exhibition games are still possible.

Wednesday's announcement impacts several Sea Dogs alumni who were set to play for AUS squads this season. There was definitely some initial worries about players leaving U Sports programs to turn pro, but that seems like less and less of a problem given how few leagues around the globe have managed to get going - and stay going - during the pandemic.

More travel issues for the QMJHL

Two more Maritimes Division teams are officially on a break from game play.

The Charlottetown Islanders and Halifax Mooseheads will both be unable to play home or away games due to travel restrictions that were confirmed on Tuesday. They join the Moncton Wildcats and Saint John Sea Dogs as Maritime clubs currently on the sidelines due to restrictions.

The restrictions for Prince Edward Island and the Halifax area will last for at least two weeks and then be reevaluated. The Moncton and Saint John regions are both in the orange phase for an undetermined amount of time.

The Mooseheads did not play this past Saturday and postponed Wednesday's scheduled game after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19.

Due to the temporary restrictions on gatherings by @nsgov due to COVID-19, @HFXMooseheads games from now until at least Dec 9 will be postponed to a future date. We will share updates as soon as we have more information. For ticketing inquiries, contact @TicketAtlantic

— Scotiabank Centre (@ScotiabankCtr) November 24, 2020

The Islanders, meanwhile, appeared poised to play this Wednesday on home ice, announcing Monday they had received an exemption from the provincial government to continue playing. The province said in a since deleted social media post Monday night that the Islanders had in fact not been granted any kind of exemption. On Tuesday morning, the Isles confirmed that they would not be playing any games while PEI remains outside the Atlantic Bubble.

Positive case numbers continue to creep up in the Saint John and Moncton areas - although at a slower pace than what we saw a few days ago. At a news conference on Tuesday, provincial health officials said there would be more positive cases in the coming days, which doesn't bode well for a quick return to the yellow phase.

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.

Sea Dogs release COVID update

SAINT JOHN - Amid rumours and speculation circulating around comment sections, the Saint John Sea Dogs released a COVID-19 update that provided a bit of clarity.

On Thursday, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League announced that a Sea Dogs staff member had tested positive for COVID-19.

Here's the statement:

Our Team, led by our team Covid Manager, is working closely with public health, our medical team, and League officials to ensure the safety of everyone.

The safety and health of everyone is our top priority.

All of our players are in confinement as well as the majority of our staff. 

Testing is ongoing and no new positive cases have been reported within the organization. The staff member who tested positive is sick and in isolation. 

It is not travel-related. The staff member has not been outside the Atlantic Bubble since prior to training camp.

No other staff members or players have been outside the Atlantic Bubble since joining the team for training camp.

The staff member experienced sudden onset of multiple symptoms following this past weekend and received a covid test the same day. They have been vigilant and in isolation since that date.

The staff member has not visited any of the following businesses this month, who have publicly listed exposure notices: Five and Dime, Freddie’s Pizza, Eighty Three Bar Arcade, and the Water Street Dinner Theatre.

We hope everyone continues to stay safe during these unprecedented times.

The statement was released just before the Province of New Brunswick placed the Saint John region back into the orange phase. Seven positive COVID-19 cases in the region were announced at a news conference on Friday.

The orange phase means sports teams can only practice amongst themselves, meaning games are unlikely to take place until Saint John returns to yellow. "Recreational and sport organizations may operate but are limited to practices and/or skills and drills within a single team," reads the government website.

The Moncton region was placed into the orange phase on Thursday. Meanwhile, in Nova Scotia, new restrictions placed on the Halifax area appear to mean the Mooseheads will have to further reduce Scotiabank Centre capacity beginning next week.

Sea Dogs staff member tests COVID positive

SAINT JOHN - COVID-19 hit the Maritimes Division hard on Thursday.

Not long after the New Brunswick government announced that the Moncton region would be going back into the orange phase, the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League confirmed that a Saint John Sea Dogs staff member had tested positive for COVID-19.

The positive test means the Sea Dogs are suspending in-person team activities.

From the news release:

The league issued a memo to Sea Dogs' executives in which it outlined the following steps to take in accordance with COVID-19 protocols:

• Players and staff will now be isolated
• Members of the organization who have been in contact with the infected person will be tested 
• Public Health Officials have been contacted by the League. They are exploring the nature of all contacts between players and staff. Any additional findings will be shared with the team and the League.

The Cape Breton Eagles, who played the Sea Dogs last night, will not be competing until the investigation by Public Health Officials is complete.

The Sea Dogs staff member who tested positive did not travel with the team to Sydney this week, according to reports.

The league announced that Saint John's next three games - Friday in Charlottetown, Sunday in Bathurst and Wednesday at home against Moncton - have all been postponed. Cape Breton was scheduled to play in Moncton this week and those games have been postponed as well.