‘New normals’ of pandemic constantly changing for everyone

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/10/2021 (1421 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I’m not sure which was more surprising. The fact Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele were nowhere to be seen at the Winnipeg Jets home opener, the first time that’s happened in their careers. Or that the dynamic duo were joined by 1,435 empty seats inside Canada Life Centre, resulting in the smallest crowd in 2.0 history.

As with most everything in life these days, the global pandemic is largely to blame for what are my two biggest takeaways from Thursday’s 5-1 victory over Anaheim.

It was great to see the downtown barn come alive again for meaningful hockey, with the short-handed Jets rewarding their short-handed crowd by getting in the win column after three straight road losses to start the season. But the missing players and the missing fans were a stark reminder we’re not out of the woods yet.

That’s certainly the case within the team itself, still reeling from the news the captain and the No. 1 centre have both tested positive for COVID-19. It started with Wheeler, who began showing symptoms last weekend when the team chartered from California to his home state of Minnesota on a season-opening road trip. His diagnosis came Monday, and he’ll remain under strict quarantine in a Minneapolis-area hotel until at least next Thursday.

Provided he’s no longer exhibiting symptoms, Wheeler would be free to rejoin his teammates and ramp up for a return to play. Scheifele has no symptoms, but still tested positive Wednesday. That was followed with a negative test later in the day, and then a second positive on Thursday. Under NHL protocols, he is able to return (as an asymptomatic individual) as soon as he can produce two negative tests over a 24-hour period.

Hopefully the buck stops at two and no other Jets players, coaches or staff are stricken. Forget about what it might mean to team’s on-ice performance. This is bigger than that. I worry for people like Tina Kompon, who is battling cancer. Her husband, Jamie, is an associate coach with the Jets who is with her in California right now. He was around the club for a couple days last week in Anaheim, joining them behind the bench for the season-opener. One of the club’s trainers has also recently come out of a second fight with cancer and would fall into the higher-risk category as well.

The fact they are all fully vaccinated boosts the odds, and it’s probably the only reason we haven’t seen a full-blown team outbreak here in Winnipeg like numerous NHL clubs experienced last season, resulting in dozens of postponed games.

It would be silly to speculate how this could happen. There’s no question players are getting used to reclaimed freedoms, both at home and on the road, following a season-and-a-half in which they were basically restricted to either the rink, their residence or hotel room. We’re told by the league there are only four players (out of more than 700 on the opening-night rosters) not fully vaccinated. That has led to more relaxed protocols and, no doubt, more potential exposure as they come out of their protective bubbles and once again enjoy luxuries such as restaurants, bars, golf courses and the like.

As the NHL itself states in a 27-page outline provided to all clubs prior to training camp last month, they “cannot mitigate all risk.” Nor are they trying to.

Eight days ago in San Jose, for example, I watched Wheeler comply with a man’s request for a photograph of them together shortly after he came off the practice ice. He was an afternoon “beer league” player on one of the other sheets at the facility and told the veteran winger he was a big fan. He got a nice memento out of the moment, but I suspect we won’t be seeing that kind of thing from the Jets for some time.

Several Jets have spoken this week about the jolt Wheeler and Scheifele’s positives provided. In response, the the club quickly moved all media access back to Zoom for the time being. They had been allowing in-person interviews, provided all scribes were fully vaccinated, wore masks at all times and kept at least six feet between themselves and the players, who are typically not masked. I’m not aware of any other internal changes right now, aside from increased testing, as the team prepares to head right back to sunny California for three more games next week following tonight’s home date with Nashville.

In that sense, the Jets are a microcosm of society right now. Many of us have broadened our horizons recently, perhaps letting our guards down while doing things we may not have done for quite some time. That would include the 13,886 who took in Thursday’s win over the Ducks, a number that jumped right off the stats sheet.

Concerning? Yes. Reason to panic and start saving those pennies in your piggy bank for the eventual “Save The Team” rally at Portage & Main? Hardly.

Some will blame inflated ticket prices, expensive beer and popcorn and bloated parking fees. Others will point the finger at the team’s sluggish start to the season. While I have no doubt those could all be factors, the primary one that kept fans away is the same one that kept two of the team’s top players off the ice.

Thanks to COVID-19, not everyone feels comfortable just yet going back into large, crowded indoor settings, even when all fans (at least 12 and older) have been immunized. We’re seeing that across the NHL right now, where not a single Canadian club sold out its home opener. In fact, of the 22 teams that have played home games so far this year, only eight have had a full house. Winnipeg, with 92.5 per cent capacity for the opener, ranks 12th of 22 in that department. At the very bottom is Ottawa, with just 56.1 per cent.

When great hockey markets such as Toronto, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, the New York Rangers, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh — which just saw its incredible 14-year sellout streak snapped earlier this week — are not packing the house right off the hop, you know there’s something bigger at play here.

Fact is, folks have been hit hard by the pandemic, including physically, mentally and financially. And just because they now can doesn’t mean they automatically will come. Just like breakthrough infections that lead to positive cases and sideline players, expect to see empty seats going forward.

Like everything over the past 19 months and counting, this latest in a series of “new normals” will take some getting used to.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg