The 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship will be subject to 50 per cent capacity limits.
The Government of Alberta made the announcement Tuesday, in the wake of the rapid spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant in the province.
In response, Hockey Canada said they will be reaching out to ticket holders by no later than Dec. 23 with alternate arrangements.
“The event ticketing team is currently addressing the implementation of this change and will be in contact with all ticket holders by the end of the day on Thursday, Dec. 23. No further ticket information is available at this time, but we thank our ticket holders for their patience and request that they please wait to receive the detailed communication before inquiring about next steps,” they said in a release.
“Hockey Canada fully supports the direction taken by the Province of Alberta, and we will continue to do our part to maintain the health and safety of all World Juniors participants and the community at large.”
Red Deer was set to host a slate of World Juniors pre-tournament games this week, but those were cancelled out of an abundance of caution as more information was gathered about the new variant. The games were eventually rescheduled, with three set to take place on Dec. 23, with two at the Peavey Mart Centrium and one at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.
Those games, as well as the 14 other games scheduled to be played at the Centrium, will now be subject to the reduced capacity limit. The Centrium typically holds about 7,111 fans.
There will also be no food or drink consumption in seated audience settings or during intermissions in the above-mentioned venues and masks are encouraged at all times in those venues.
byron.hackett@reddeeradvocate.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter