Game called on account of norovirus: Canada’s defence of Olympic women’s hockey gold has been delayed
Canada’s defence of Olympic women’s hockey gold has been delayed.
Canada’s opening game against Finland at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics was postponed because the Finns were struck with the norovirus.
Thursday’s preliminary-round game will now be played Feb. 12 at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.
During a Thursday morning call with the International Olympic Committee, the International Ice Hockey Federation and Finland team management, Canada’s general manager Gina Kingsbury said “forfeiting was never brought up on that conversation. The solution that they had come up with was being able to postpone the game till the 12th and we were asked if we were willing to do so.
“In the spirit of the Games and wanting to compete in these Games and making sure that we’re doing so in a safe manner was our priority,” she continued. “We felt it was a good option and responsible decision for us to be able to postpone.”
No player on the Canadian women’s team was sick Thursday, Kingsbury said.
“The decision was taken following consultations with medical professionals after cases of norovirus were identified within Team Finland,” said a joint statement Thursday from the IOC, the IIHF and the organizing committee.
“It was made collectively and in accordance with established health and safety principles, with the health and well-being of players, team staff, officials and all tournament participants as the highest priority.
“While all stakeholders recognize the disappointment of not playing the game as originally scheduled, this was a responsible and necessary decision that reflects the spirit of the Olympic Games and the integrity of the competition.”
Defending champion Canada faces Switzerland on Saturday, Czechia on Monday and archrival United States on Tuesday before concluding the preliminary round against the Finns. All five teams in Group A and the top three in Group B advance to Feb. 13-14 quarterfinals.
Kingsbury said the broadcast schedule had Canada in a Feb. 14 quarterfinal, which gives the team a day of rest after facing the Finns.
Canada held a full practice Thursday evening after an optional morning skate at Rho Ice Hockey Arena.
The game against Finland was to be a 9:10 p.m. puck drop local time. So is Saturday’s game against Switzerland and Monday’s game against the Czechs.
“There’s a benefit of having a kind of a test event,” Kingsbury explained. “The opportunity right now is we had a great skate tonight.
“The champion way of thinking is ‘here’s a challenge. What are the opportunities that are coming with that? How can we take advantage of what’s in front of us?’ And I think that’s what we did.”
Canadian players weren’t available to media after Thursday’s skate. They’d found out at noon that their opening game was postponed.
“They had February 5th circled on their schedule for a long time now. The mindset has to shift. We want to give them enough space to be able to do that,” the GM said.
“To be honest, we knew that this (practice) would take a lot of time as well and we want them in bed.”
Another reason Kingsbury was OK with the postponement is she wanted to limit her players’ exposure to the virus.
“We want to play against all the teams,” she said. “We came here to compete and play hopefully seven games at this tournament, but we want do so in a safe manner and we want to make sure that our athletes are protected as well, so that also comes into consideration.”
The Canadian women won’t practice Friday, which Kingsbury said was always intended to be a day off for the players to walk in the opening ceremonies.
Finland was the bronze medallist at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing and in last year’s world championship in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
“We know what it means to represent your country and to be in this incredible tournament,” Kingsbury said. “To fall sick and to have a group of athletes under the weather the way they are, we feel for them, so wishing them a speed recovery here.”
She was confident the norovirus could be contained in the athletes’ village.
“We’re going to trust that the IIHF, the IOC, will take the precautions to make sure that the athletes are safe in the village and around all the facilities until they’re proving to us that that’s not the case,” Kingsbury said.
“It’s also our responsibility to do the things that we need to do to stay safe. You stay away from, obviously right now, the Finns in that way. Wash our hands, just be aware of touching our faces.”