The Tomcats have reached the “play” portion of its Return to Play plan: games in two “Windsor hub locales” beginning September 15th – Puce and Comber. The Tomcats, just like for the annual tournament, will be divided into 4 teams. Two teams in Puce, two teams in Comber. Teams will report to those towns in early September and will remain in isolation until February 2021.
Tomcat Hockey is making its official return after more than four months after the 2019-20 season was suspended in March because of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Here’s what you need to know about the Tomcat “bubble” and hub town setup:
What is the Tomcat bubble & hub cities?
The Tomcat “bubble” consists of limited areas in two hub towns — Puce and Comber — where team personnel will be required to remain as the club tries to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Each team is taking up one room in a designated motel. Other access areas include arenas, practice facilities, dining destinations (hotel restaurants and bars, and conference areas where food is brought in).
Where is the Tomcat bubble?
The Tomcat bubble, unlike the NBA bubble in Orlando, is in two hub towns: Puce and Comber. Games will be played at Puce’s St. William’s School gym and Comber’s Centennial Central School gym without spectators.
Number of people per team in the Tomcat bubble & hub cities
To make it simple, the same teams that played together in February’s tournament are being kept in place. Those teams will relocate to their hub town motel. Traveling parties will stay together in their team motel rooms and no one can visit another room. Guests will not be allowed inside the Tomcat hub town bubble until the finals next February in Comber, where family members can reunite with players.
COVID-19 testing in the Tomcat bubble & hub towns
Players will undergo testing and temperature and symptom checks daily. People who are in the bubble (the league is calling it the “secure zone”) must wear protective masks whenever they are outside their hotel rooms, but they can remove them while exercising, playing, eating or drinking. Social distancing must be maintained “in all circumstances in which it is feasible,” per the league’s protocols.
Any member of a team’s traveling party who develops COVID-19 symptoms is required to inform a club representative immediately and then self-isolate. The club’s physician will examine the person and then decide in tandem with the club’s infectious disease specialist and the league’s event medical director whether to conduct PCR testing. Club personnel are also required to inform medical personnel if they come into contact with anyone they suspect has COVID-19.
In the case of symptoms and/or a positive test, the person will be isolated in a separate their hotel room under the watchful eye the Sea Lion.
As for when those who test positive can exit isolation after a positive test: It’s complicated. The abbreviated version:
Asymptomatic persons: Ten days after the first positive test if the person has remained asymptomatic; or after two consecutive negative respiratory tests in a period of 24 or more hours.
Persons who display symptoms at the time of testing or during self-isolation: No fever or respiratory symptoms over a 72-hour period, if the person has been in self-isolation for at least 10 days since the onset of symptoms; or two consecutive negative tests plus a resolution of any fever (without the use of fever-reducing medications) and an improvement in respiratory symptoms.
Physicians treating people in isolation must “conclude that the person no longer presents a risk of infection to others, and that it is medically appropriate (given individual and local circumstances) to terminate the requirement for self-isolation.” Further, “the termination of the isolation requirement must be consistent with applicable local public health regulations or other requirements.”
Can a player leave the Tomcat bubble & hub towns?
Yes, but only in a limited number of cases, per Tomcat Management: medical reasons, extenuating circumstances (such as the birth of a child or an illness or death in the family), or a family event such as a wedding. When a player returns to the secure zone, he will be quarantined in a motel room and then need to test negative at least four consecutive times over a four-day period.
What happens if a player leaves the bubble without permission?
The player can be removed from the secure zone upon returning, or he can be quarantined for 10-14 days and subjected to “enhanced testing and monitoring.” Teams can be fined and/or lose future draft status for unauthorized departures from the bubble.
Bubble Format
Each Tuesday, the teams assigned to the hub towns will play 3 games consisting of 2 15 minute periods. Beer cannot be consumed on the grade school stages, so must occur only back within the team motel rooms. Records of each Tuesday evening will be kept and the two teams with the most wins from each hub town will play a best of 7 series next February to declare the Tomcat Champion and hoist Stanley’s Cup
Final approval of this approach is expected this week, so stay tuned Tomcats and get your bags backed, say your goodbyes and get ready for 6 months of hanging with the guys!
Windsor Tomcats 