Hockey fans in Red Deer and Central Alberta have lost another chance to see some of the best hockey players in the world compete.
Just days after a pair of pre-competition games for the 2022 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships were cancelled in Red Deer, that would have featured Canada’s U20 National Team – Canada’s Women’s National team won’t play in a rivalry series against Team U.S.A. at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
Hockey Canada cancelled the two rivalry series games, which were set to be played on Jan. 3 in Edmonton and Jan. 6 in Red Deer. The series was designed as a tune-up for the 2022 Beijing Olympics that will take place in February.
The games were cancelled because several players and staff from Canada’s national team are in COVID-19 protocol.
“The risk associated with playing the final two Rivalry Series games with less than one month before our teams are set to compete in the 2022 Olympics is too high to finish our series with the United States,” said Gina Kingsbury, director of hockey operations with Hockey Canada in a statement.
“Changing our schedule and not being able to play the United States is always difficult, as our players and staff want to play against international competition and put on a great show for hockey fans. Unfortunately, we need to do what is right for our athletes from a health perspective and for our team preparation in order to ensure everyone remains healthy and eligible for Beijing.”
All ticket holders will receive a refund in January through Ticketmaster for the Edmonton game or Tickets Alberta for the Red Deer game.
The series started in October and included games in the U.S. as well as Canada. The contest in Red Deer was set to be the final game of the eight-game series. Canada led the series 4-2.
Last week, the IIHF cancelled six men’s and women’s tournaments in January, including the women’s under-18 world championship a second straight year, because of concerns over COVID-19.