Oshawa Generals to resume season this week without fans; minor hockey on hold until provincial ban is lifted
Published January 5, 2022 at 9:50 am
Minor hockey and other amateur sports in Ontario have been shut down for a minimum of three weeks as the provincial government reverts to a modified Stage 2 to blunt the surge in COVID-19 cases from the Omicron variant.
Arena and other indoor entertainment venues will be closed to the public until January 26 when the new rules will be re-assessed. Professional sports and certain high level amateur leagues – such as the Ontario Hockey League – are exempt from the provincial ruling but spectators will not be allowed into the building for the duration of the ban.
The Oshawa Generals will attempt to get their season back on track when they visit St. Catharines for a date with the Niagara Ice Dogs on Thursday, followed by a home game – the first since a 4-1 victory over Peterborough way back on December 12 – the next night against Ottawa.
Further outbreaks will complicate the schedule, as will an extended ban. The OHL receives only minimal television dollars and is primarily a gate-driven league. Finishing the season without fans, for example, appears unlikely.
The club issued a statement to its fans and in particular, its season ticket holders, yesterday:
The province of Ontario announced yesterday that no spectators will be allowed into sports and entertainment venues for a period of three weeks commencing on January 5th. Unfortunately, this announcement includes Oshawa Generals games played at the Tribute Communities Centre between now and January 26th.
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Season ticket holders will now be provided with a credit for the games where fans are not allowed to attend. Credit will be held in season ticket account and can be applied towards playoff tickets or a deposit towards 2022-2023 season tickets. Further details or options will be given at a later date.
All single-game ticket holders will be contacted directly by our ticketing team.
Please see below for a list of affected games:
- Fri., January 7 vs. Ottawa at 7:35
- Sun., January 9 vs. Sudbury at 6:05
- Fri., January 14 vs. Hamilton at 7:35
- Sun., January 16 vs. Mississauga at 6:05
- Thur., January 20 vs. Mississauga at 6:05
- Sun., January 23 vs. Kingston at 6:05
Despite not being able to attend our games in person, there are many ways in which you can stay up to date on all of the Oshawa Generals’ action! You can catch our games on local RogersTV Durham (click here for broadcast schedule) or via the internet radio broadcast (click here for link to broadcast).
All home and away games are also available on CHL TV.
We appreciate the tenacity and support from all of GensNation and we can’t wait for the right time to welcome you all back safely to cheer on your Generals.
Minor hockey players, parents, coaches and volunteers, however, will have to wait until the ban is over before they can return to the ice.
NASC Hockey, one of two house league organizations providing hockey to Oshawa kids, released a statement of their own this week to players and parents, saying they will have to “put our program on hold” until further notice.