WINNIPEG

Winnipeg Jets able to train in Manitoba under new public health orders

Charles Lefebvre CTVNewsWinnipeg.ca Supervising News Producer - Digital

Published Tuesday, December 8, 2020 3:06PM CST Last Updated Tuesday, December 8, 2020 3:07PM CST

Winnipeg Jets' goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) and Cody Eakin (20) defend the net against Vancouver Canucks' Tyler Toffoli (73) during third period NHL exhibition game action in Edmonton, on Wednesday, July 29, 2020. (Codie McLachlan / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets will be able to run a training camp in Manitoba under new public health orders announced by the Manitoba government on Tuesday.

Under the orders, the province will permit the Winnipeg Jets to train in Manitoba “for an eventual NHL decision on a 2021 playing season.”

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, said the order is on the “very robust” plan that the NHL and its teams have put forward.

“They will be able to train, to practice, to take the ice,” Roussin said. “All self-isolation requirements are required for the team, so much of the quarantine we had in place from last year is still in place.

“The self-isolation allows training, so this is back and forth to the training facility (and) back to a residence with private conveyance. So there are a lot of safety guards that have been proven to be effective through last season, which really poses no risk to Manitobans, and there’s a lot of protocols in place to have this very safe for the team.”

While the Jets are allowed a training camp, minor hockey in Manitoba is not allowed to hold events or play.

Roussin said the decision was due to the NHL having strict testing and self-isolation requirements for players and teams that were reviewed by the province.

“When we look at these things, we really see no risk to the public in Manitoba,” Roussin said. “We see some benefit to having something for people to be looking forward to during these difficult times. It certainly is not the same protocols that could be in place for an eight-year-old hockey team.”

The NHL was intending to begin their next season on January 1, 2021, but the Associated Press reported on Dec. 4 that a start in mid-January is more likely. The league and the NHLPA still need to finalize a schedule for the upcoming season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup this summer during a playoff tournament that occurred in bubble sites in Toronto and Edmonton.

-With files from John Wawrow of the Associated Press.