(Beijing) One hour delay. Forfeit rumors. Masked players. convoluted explanations. The hockey game between the Canadians and the Russians, Monday in Beijing, was a reflection of these Games.
Posted at 7:35 a.m.
Opaque.
Weird.
Surrealist.
What happened, exactly? Intrigues worthy of Throw and count, supported by explanations as tortured as those of a 5-year-old holding a baseball next to a broken window. Let’s go with the facts.
Early Monday morning, like every day since arriving in Beijing, the hockey players were tested for COVID. Usually, the results are known quickly. In less than three hours. Except that this time, there was a delay. When the game started at noon, the Russians were still waiting.
The Canadians did not want to take any risks. For fear of getting sick? Not much. Rather for fear of being contaminated, excluded from the tournament and transported to an isolation center supervised by the Chinese government. An experience which, you guessed it, is less pleasant than a week in an all-inclusive in the Turquoise Islands.
The Canadians were all the more concerned as the Russians are still struggling with an outbreak. Last week, six of their players were placed on COVID protocol. On Monday, three players were removed from their line-up, including Olga Sosina, who is known to be infected with the virus.
“We just wanted to make sure they got their results, and that we could play safely,” said Canadian forward Natalie Spooner.
After the warm-up, the Canadians stayed in the locker room. First, five minutes. Then 10. Then 20. The Russians were waiting for them on the ice rink. In the bleachers, journalists, descriptors, volunteers and spectators – all deprived of explanations – tried to understand the vaudeville that was unfolding before their eyes.
At 12:40 p.m., the referee went to pass a message to the Russians. In turn, they left. According to a Russian player interviewed after the match, at some point there was talk of postponing the game. Information that no one at Hockey Canada or the International Federation wanted to confirm.
At 1:15 p.m., the players finally took to the ice – masked. An unprecedented measure, not found in the protocols of the International Olympic Committee, to which the two teams have agreed to resolve the impasse. Unheard of, for a match at this level. Although the Canadians, after a major outbreak in December, had already trained with masks, said Marie-Philip Poulin.
“After Christmas, we had a few cases on the team. To be sure that everything was healthy, we practiced for a week with a mask. Yes, it’s different. Yes, we are used to it. But at the Olympics, things change. »
“We were ready to get on the ice and start the game. Our CEO Gina [Kingsbury] came into the locker room and explained the situation to us. Precautions had to be taken. It took 45 minutes, an hour to make the decision. Eventually, [les deux équipes] came together to play the match. »
* * *
The Canadians started the game with aplomb. They scored two goals in the first three minutes of play. Then we noticed changes in the lines announced by Team Canada. Something wasn’t working.
A player was missing.
Number 26, Emily Clark.
His name was indeed on the score sheet. Except that Marie-Philip Poulin’s line partner was neither on the ice nor on the bench. And she had made no presence in the first minutes.
Why ?
Hockey Canada did not provide an immediate explanation. It was only after the game that we learned that the result of his morning test was inconclusive. “For health and safety reasons, we have removed her from the roster,” said head coach Troy Ryan. I don’t think it was mandatory. »
Theoretically, yes. An athlete with an inconclusive test should undergo a new PCR test. In the meantime, if she is symptomatic, she should go to the hospital. If she is asymptomatic, she should be isolated from the rest of the group.
Journalists then had a doubt. And if the decision to impose the mask was linked to the result of Emily Clark’s test…
Troy Ryan refuted this thesis on the spot. “The Emily Clark situation arose after our decision to delay the game, and our decision to wear masks,” he said. However, Clark was pulled by Team Canada during the warm-up session. No one on the rink wore a mask then. Pressed with questions, Troy Ryan never wanted to specify the exact reason why his players wore the mask. Nor why they kept it, in the third period, after receiving the negative results from the Russians, who withdrew their N95s.
During Troy Ryan’s briefing, Team Canada director of hockey operations Gina Kingsbury stood a few feet behind him. We asked him to join us to clarify the situation.
She escaped through the back door.
* * *
This Canada-Russia match gave us a glimpse of the challenges posed by Omicron at these Games. For the organizers, it is an invisible enemy. For athletes, it is a formidable opponent. The most feared of all. The one that can end your Olympic dream, but also that of your teammates.
On Saturday, in short track, a Polish skater learned of her exclusion 45 minutes before her race. She broke down in tears, inconsolable. On Sunday, an Australian curling team suffered the same fate – before being reinstated in extremis, a few hours later.
At the moment, positive cases in the protected environment are the exception. So much the better. Hopefully the bubble continues to resist Omicron. Otherwise, storylines like Monday’s will steal the show from performances.
Besides, I had forgotten to send you the final score.
Canada 6, Russia 1.