The long-awaited Hometown Hockey tour slated to stop in Campbell River has been cancelled among fears of coronavirus.
In a press release sent out by organizers, Rogers Sports & Media, along with the City of Campbell River, said it followed the advice of experts on limiting large gatherings due to public health concerns about the coronavirus and decided to cancel the Rogers Hometown Hockey Tour in Campbell River on March 21 and 22.
The City of Campbell River has also cancelled related events leading up to the weekend festival including Pop-Up Hockey: the pop-up hockey event, the Friday afternoon events at Spirits Squre and the free swim and skate at Strathcona Gardens.
“It’s one of those things where I think they are, looking at the event in relation to the larger public health issue, and decided to air on the side of caution and we can’t fault them for that, we support them,” said Ron Neufeld, deputy city manager for the City of Campbell River.
The city is working towards continuing to provide essential community services as well as installing hand sanitizer products at its various facilities.
Sportsnet’s national broadcast of Rogers Hometown Hockey featuring the Winnipeg Jets vs. Dallas Stars on Sunday, March 22 will now be re-located back to the NHL on Sportsnet studio, however that date will still feature local stories based on Campbell River.
Campbell River also won’t be the only city forgoing the event as Rogers has decided to pull the plug on the remainder of the tour.
Many sporting events on the Island have yet to cancel amid the outbreak of the deadly virus, however, there could possibly be more announcements in the future as Wednesday morning the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
In the wake of Wednesday’s pandemic announcement, Seattle has banned public gatherings, the NBA team Golden State Warriors released they will play games in an empty arena, and cancellations of sporting events have begun pouring out in waves.
One other notable cancellation in our country is the World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal have been called off. The championships were scheduled to run March 18-22 at the Bell Centre.
The City of Campbell River is also working towards continuing to provide essential community services as well as installing hand sanitizer products at its various facilities.
Graham Cox
