Drama in Alberta: the World Junior Championships are canceled. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has yet to announce it, but several media outlets say an announcement is imminent.
The COVID-19 cases had forced the cancellation of a game on Tuesday and two more on Wednesday.
Only nine games could be played in due form, during this tournament presented in Edmonton and Red Deer.
The teams participating in the World Juniors were theoretically constrained to bubbles. They submitted to a 48-hour quarantine upon arrival in Alberta and had to stick to back and forth between the arena and the hotel. Unlike the bubble that the NHL created during the 2020 playoffs, however, hotels were not for the exclusive use of teams, and other clients were also accommodated there.
During the day, Wednesday, testimonies published by journalists present on the spot spoke volumes about the tightness of the bubble in question. Brother Chris Peters, of the DailyFaceoff site, for example said that a wedding was scheduled for Wednesday evening at the hotel where the teams from the United States and Sweden are staying.
More details to come.