BEIJING, CHINA – FEBRUARY 7, 2022: Brianne Jenner (L) of Canada and Polina Luchnikova of the ROC … [+]
Anton Novoderezhkin/TASS
Last night, the Canadian women’s hockey team played their Olympic hockey match against the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) while wearing N95 masks.
Shortly before the game, all appeared to be normal with both teams taking warm ups together on the ice. But Team Canada didn’t appear for the start of the game with a perplexed ROC team eventually leaving the ice too after officials announced a one hour delay till puck drop. When the teams did emerge, they and on-ice officials were wearing N95 masks. As the match went on, more details emerged indicating that the Canadian team had not received ROC’s Covid-19 testing results before the start of the game and had declined to start before this.
The ROC team had 6 players on Covid-19 protocols just last week and both teams came to an agreement that N95 masks would be worn on the ice to allow the game to go ahead. The test results reportedly came back by the third period, meaning the ROC and officials removed their masks. The Canadian team kept theirs on, potentially due to forward Emily Clark being removed from the game after warmups, reportedly due to a late, inconclusive Covid-19 test result.
Indoor ice rinks may be high-risk environments for Covid-19 transmission due to temperature gradients between the air and the ice meaning droplets and aerosols can hang in the air above the ice surface. At the end of December, the men’s World Juniors hockey tournament was cancelled just a few days into the event following outbreaks on multiple teams and the women’s under 18 event due to be in Sweden in early January was also pre-emptively called off.
Claims that masks stop people getting enough oxygen and can cause carbon dioxide poisoning are patently untrue and easily debunked. Hockey is an incredibly intensive cardiovascular sport, with the athlete’s heart rates frequently reaching 85-90% of maximum performance. Commentary during the match on Canada’s national broadcaster indicated that the Canadian team had previously trained with masks on and this was evidence as players seemed to be largely unbothered by having to wear them.
Canada’s Erin Ambrose (2ndL) celebrates with teammates after scoring the team’s fourth goal against … [+]
AFP via Getty Images
This was reflected in the team’s performance as 2 goals in the first 3 minutes of the game eventually led to a dominant 6-1 victory, including a tournament first for Captain Marie-Philip Poulin.
Canada will meet arch rivals and joint gold medal favorites the U.S. on Monday night Eastern time.
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