The last time Tomcats played an official game of ball hockey was March 10, 2020. It only took 263 days for the next games to be played (the longest gap between games since the inception of Tomcat hockey more than 30 years ago).

The COVID Classic was played on November 28, 2020 at Realtor Park. The weather was incredible for late November…sunny and in the low 40s. Felt much warmer once the games began.

Teams:
White Modernas – Rocky, Snowpants, Chico, Junior, Hollywood and The Lizard
Black AstraZenecas – Sunny, LaBamba, Shack, May Day, Soupy and Hurricane

First 3 games were played to 3 with Black taking each one. The final game was played to 5 and actually saw White finally overcome the slick passing of Sunny, LaBamba and Soupy to take their only victory.

Good old Tomcat spirit was alive and well. The first indication was when Hurricane scored, the crowd started chanting “ABH’ ABH!” Also, at one point, a very fine looking lady went jogging by. Time out was called and Junior declared he was going for a run!

Big thanks goes out to Snowpants. Instead of sweeping the floor as he typically does at the Kapusta, he was seen removing individual leaves and twigs from the playing surface to ensure safety of the Tomcats in this new environment. Also a shoutout to our photographer, Sheepdog, for coming by to watch and have a few. Matador also stopped by to see the boys and share in a few good stories!

In between games, as expected, the boys recreated “the stage” next to the court and shared in some MGDs. Not sure who said it, but after all games were played, while enjoying the cold drinks, reviling once again in playing Tomcat hockey, it was stated, “This was good for the soul!”

Tomcats Forever

By Harry Ballsonue

The Nick Name…who gave them the name??  For this article I was able to interview, May Day, Rocky, Stevo, Bulldog, The Legend, Junior and Rex Brennen and Sunny and here is what I was told…

The Mayor: The Turk named him after announcing him as the Mayor of St. Clair Beach at a Ukrainian Festival

The Badger: May Day (he was a tenacious checker, like a squirrel on a back pack)

Dusty: May Day, not sure why

Rake: The Turk gave him the name

Bundura: Stevo gave him the name saying that his other nickname, Bundy, was short for Bundura

Sparky: Stevo gave him the name since he is an electrician.

Jingles:  Sparky gave him this name, after he ran around on his first night, with his keys in his pocket (His thinking was someone would steal his car)

Tonto: Mayday 

Sea Lion: Mayday, in Stevo’s pool as the Sea Lion was swimming with his cub Chris

Bullwinkle: Stevo, cuz Bullwinkle is good friends with Rocky…get it, “Rocky and Bullwinkle?” 

Rocky:  Mayday named him after Rocky Saganuik

Killer:  Mayday, assigned him 93, Dougie Gilmour’s number and named him Killer, Dougie Gilmour’s nickname, and if you have seen him play, it fits!

Mayday: Mayday named himself.  He is also known as Daddy.

Junior:  Mayday, September 1989 in Port Austin on the shores of Lake Huron

Sunny/ Husky Eyes:  Stevo gave him Sunny, ‘Husky Eyes’ was given to him by a chick on the bus in Pittsburgh, but don’t tell the Unicorn that.

Soupy:  Stevo, named after the famous comedian Soupy Sales

Sheep Dog:  Came to the team with that name

Falcon:  Stevo, named him that cuz of Eddie the Eagle the goalie for the Leafs at the time, keeping the bird name, the Falcon was born, but the Falcon wears number 30 because Chris Osgood wore 30.

Hollywood:  Stevo, due to his golden locks

Skuz:  Came to Tomcats with that name

Finner:  Had the name all his life

Crow:  Came to Tomcats with the name

The Matador:  Stevo gave him the name ‘Matty the Matador,’ Toro, Toro!

Crazy Legs: May Day…..cuz Frank had crazy legs.

Lovie:  Stevo, named after the NFL coach of the Chicago Bears, Lovie Smith…and because Lovie is so Lovie. Thurston Howell was Lovie too. “Oh Lovie!”

Cribzie: Sea Lion

La Bamba:  Stevo, (Named after the trombone player in the band Southside Johnny and the Ashbury Dukes)

Chevy:  Stevo (No one ever calls him by his first name, wait….does he have a first name?  We know that he now has a drink called ‘the Chevy.’ Vodka, Soda, Bar Lime…shaken not stirred.

Big Easy:  Stevo

Spinner: Stevo

Mez: May Day

YoungBlood: Stevo

Kamikaze: Stevo gave him the name because it rhymes with his last name.  Sometimes it gets shortened to Kaz or Kazzie.

Razor: Snowpants

Fuzzy: Crispy

Uwe: Crispy

The Turk: Mayday, after Turk Broda the Toronto Maple Leaf goalie who was stellar in the net like the Tomcat Turk.

Shackalicious: Actually Shack, Sunny named him

Chico:  Stevo named after the goalie Chico Resch.  Chico is a goalie, get it?

Kramden:  Stevo gave him the name as Kramden’s first name is Ralph. 

Snowpants:  Chevy, one night as Snowpants was playing wearing some sort of track pant that looked like snow pants, Chevy asked when he got to the bench, “Are those Snowpants?”

Doc:  Stevo cuz he looks like Doc Holliday 

Hurricane:  Mayday (cuz he used to be a whirlwind…and still is on most nights)

Spanky: Stevo 

Bagz:  Came to the Tomcats with that name

Bucko: Came to the Tomcats with the nickname

The Lizard:  Stevo

Crispy: Came to the Tomcats with that name

Tunzie:  Sea Lion

Beep:  Stevo

The Terror:  Nicknamed that by the Green Giant

Bubbles:  Nicknamed by Daddy Mac

Zaba: Stevo named him. 

The Eagle: Mayday

Tweetie Bird: Stevo

El Choppo / Flintstone:  Both names came from Stevo

Bearcat:  Stevo

Bulldog:  Stevo named him that back in 1988.  Bulldog at the same time tried to give Stevo the name Buzz, but it never took

Skippy: Came to the Tomcats with that name

Green Giant: Stevo

Ogie: Hollywood

Squid: Stevo

Big Ned: Mayday

Frost Bite: Rocky

The Anvil: Rocky cuz he looks like a blacksmith
Solstice: Stevo

Helios: Stevo

The Legend:  Named himself…obviously, after all he is the Legend.

Rex Brennen: Stevo.  (Named Captain Rex Brennen cuz we use to tell the waitress that we were pilots and we flew with American Airlines…

Non-Tomcat Player Notables:

Hatchie: Golf Tomcat; came with that name, aka Chewy

Little Bird: Golf Tomcats – Stevo

Nature Boy: Golf Tomcat – Mayday

Big Perv:  (Battle Creek golfer guy) Got the name from the Bartender at the bar, The Docks, Augusta Michigan

Shakespeare: (Battle Creek golfer guy) Got the name from Cribzie

The Stomper: Mayday

Serta:  Soupy’s wife – Beep

Unicorn: Sunny’s wife – Hollywood

Roxy: Rocky’s wife – Stevo

The Rockettes: Rocky’s daughters – Stevo

The Howler: Stevo (named after…..well I can’t say, its a PG 13 blog)

Sweet Feet: Mayday

Joad the Toad:  Doc’s wife.  Had the name her whole life, resurrected by Ghost Crossing

Instead of Tomcats we could have been called the….

Interesting Note: Stevo did try to give himself a new nickname a few years back, ‘Snakebite’, but it did not catch on.  You should also know that there is drink called ‘The Sparky’- Rye, Coke and a topper of Wolf Head Coffee Whiskey Liqueur…try one today. If I missed someone, I am sorry, but hey, while sipping on a Sparky, would you mind if I put my Harry Ballsonue.

A man comes into the ER and yells . . .’My wife’s going to have her baby in the cab.’ I grabbed my stuff, rushed out to the cab, lifted the lady’s dress and began to take off her underwear. Suddenly I noticed that there were several cabs and I was in the wrong one.

Submitted by Dr. Snowpants

At the beginning of my shift I placed a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient’s anterior chest wall. ‘Big breaths,’ I instructed. ‘Yes, they used to be,’ replied the patient.

Submitted by Dr. La Bamba,

One day I had to be the bearer of bad news when I told a wife that her husband had died of a massive myocardial infarct. Not more than five minutes later, I heard her reporting to the rest of the family that he had died of a ‘massive internal fart.’

Submitted by Doc Hollywood

While acquainting myself with a new elderly patient, I asked, ‘How long have you been bedridden?’ After a look of complete confusion she answered, ‘Why, not for about twenty years – when my husband was alive.’

Submitted by Dr. Bullwinkle

A nurse was on duty in the Emergency Room when a young woman with purple hair styled into a punk rocker Mohawk, sporting a variety of tattoos, and wearing strange clothing, entered. It was quickly determined that the patient had acute appendicitis, so she was scheduled for immediate surgery. When she was completely disrobed on the operating table, the staff noticed that her pubic hair had been dyed green and above it there was a Tattoo that read . . .’ Keep off the grass.’

Once the surgery was completed, I wrote a short note on the patient’s dressing, which said, ‘Sorry . . . had to mow the lawn.’

Submitted by Doctor Matador,

As a new, young MD doing his residency at the Tomcat hospital, I was quite embarrassed when performing female pelvic exams. To cover my embarrassment I had unconsciously formed a habit of whistling softly. The middle-aged lady upon whom I was performing this exam suddenly burst out laughing, further embarrassing me. I looked up from my work and sheepishly said . . ..’I’m sorry. Was I tickling you?’ She replied with tears running down her cheeks from laughing so hard . . ..’No doctor but the song you were whistling was, ‘I wish I was an Oscar Meyer Wiener.’

Submitted by Dr. Sea Lion

Baby’s First Doctor’s Visit

A woman and a baby were in my examining room, waiting for me to come in for the baby’s first exam. I arrived, and examined the baby, checked his weight, and being a little concerned, asked if the baby was breast-fed or bottle-fed. ‘Breast-fed,’ she replied. ‘Well, strip down to your waist,’ I ordered. She did. I pinched her nipples, pressed, kneaded, and rubbed both breasts for a while in a very professional and detailed examination. Motioning to her to get dressed, I said, ‘No wonder this baby is underweight. You don’t have any milk.’ ‘I know,’ she said, ‘I’m his Grandma, but I’m glad I came.’
Submitted by Dr. Soupy

While you are thinking of your favourite Doctor and Tomcat hospital story, do you think I could put my Harry Ballsonue. 

We all know being part of the Tomcats involves having a nickname. It is part of the long tradition, as old as drinking beer on stage after hockey. Most guys get their nicknames on the very first night they play with the Tomcats. Some guys come in with some history of a nickname that carries over, while most get one from “first impressions.” What if, instead of getting a name when someone is relatively unknown to the Tomcats, we gave nicknames after many years of playing…would the names be different? For example:

Snowpants – given the name because his sweat pants with pads underneath resembled snow pants. Now having seen him play all these years and the countless slides across the floor (thus the need for padding), would he be The Slider?

The Turk – Owning the career blocked shot record by a landslide, would he be known as The Shocker (no Chevy, not that Shocker – a cross between the words “shot” and “blocker”)?

And speaking of Chevy, would he be better known as The Sniper for his well known shooting ability?

The Falcon is a great name, but doesn’t signifying the amount of shots stopped by this net-minding legend. Maybe The Wall is now more appropriate?

What if Stevo’s name was not Stephen? Would he be Billo or Bobo or Franko? How about The Watchmaker for his precision hands?

We all know Sparky is called so due to being an electrician. But having seen him dressed up wearing shades, is Pitbull more appropriate?

And what if Jingles (aka Kevin Kuprowski) never played his first night with keys in his pocket? Would his ability to be a shooter, passer, tough guy in the corners…kind of like a swiss army knife, give him the nickname K-swiss?

And poor Bullwinkle…just because he is Rocky’s pal, he is now forever known as a moose. But based on his ability to never stop moving (fast by the way) on the floor, should we call him The Perp (short for perpetual motion)?

And speaking of someone who never stops, wouldn’t Bulldog be better named Energizer or maybe even Greyhound instead?

Sunny’s name comes from his last name being similar to a word meaning “of the sun.” However, if there ever was a Greek God in today’s world, it’s Sunny so let’s just go with Zeus for his new nickname.

Finally, Lovie’s name makes sense since everybody, and I mean everybody, loves the guy. However, on the floor he is known to have the quickest release on the planet. As such, it may be more fitting to call him Zoloft (the PE drug).

Ah, who’s kidding…we don’t want to change any of these nicknames. You can’t alter the lore of Tomcat history…it wouldn’t be fair to our legions of fans.

Until next time,

Ivan Gerganov (guest columnist)

By Stevo

In 1993 if you had told me that in 2020 we would not be playing ball hockey in September or October, at the Kapusta Kow Palace, I would have told you that it was probably because of this old Ukrainian guy named Myron. He was always against us scratching up the floor.  One year I actually had to go to one of their meetings and I blew their minds wide open when I spoke Ukrainian in the meeting begging them to let us continue playing (I told them that we were mostly Ukrainian guys, mentioning to them actual Ukrainian guys like May Day, The Legend, Mr. Bundura, The Turk, and Hollywood, I then threw in The Rake and the Sea Lion. They had been given Ukrainian names for the Canada-Ukraine game, so I thought it would be fine). The board listened  and we got to continue playing. We have never missed a day, let alone a month or two to five months.  Krazzzy times now though!
What I miss the most…the first night when the guys arrive and its like a big family reunion.  Everyone has big smiles and the outside world does not exist. Its Tomcats and that’s all there is.  I also miss the first night when La Bamba arrives and my brother sings “la la la la la Bamba.” Snowpants going around and shaking everyones hand on the first night (I also love when I hug him at the end of the night and hold onto him just a bit longer to make him feel uncomfortable…unfortunately he has caught on and now just lets me hold him longer).  I miss the first sip of beer on stage.  I miss the laughter. I miss the re-counts of goals and passes. I miss limping down the fire escape stairs and seeing Sparky, Tonto, Doc and Kamikaze and the ride home where I still sweat for about 20 minutes. I miss the boys in general!

They say ‘everything happens for a reason…to miss seeing guys I love, what reason could there be for that?

I know I will miss my Christmas come February 27, 2021.  I guess we can always do what they do in the real world and start the season a bit later and if things start to open up, we hold the tournament April 24, 2020, I don’t want to miss my Christmas.  

I, Stevo, is one of the original players who started back in 1989 with May Day, Hurricane, Bulldog,  Dewey, Zoomer, The Legend, Rex Brennen, Junior, soon to be joined by the Rake, Sea Lion, the Badger, and 90 more.

I also miss hearing the “Tomcats Forever” song. 

Love you guys, stay beautiful.

GORDONS GIN LEAGUE WRAP UP

October15, 2020

By Chuck Fina

The Gordon’s Gin golf League held its final outing on October 9, 2020 at the Belleview Golf and Country Club on October 9, 2020. The league stars were out in full force and the payers were ;

Mayday
La Bamba
Stevo
Hurricane
The Sea Lion
Big Easy
Hatchie
Chevy

A banquet was held at Stevo’s after golf and Chevy arranged to have wings delivered from the Rock Bottom Saloon. A big thanks to Mrs. Chevy who delivered the wing order to Stevo’s house.

Hatchie was announced the overall winner for 2020 posting low gross, low net, longest drive, closest to the pin and picking up the most followers on Twitter.

Team Hatchie was also awarded the Ride Her Cup. Team Hatchie was led by Hatchie and Big Easy, La Bamba and Chevy rounded out the crew. No formal Ride Her Cup tournament was held this year and the record book will include an asterisk for 2020.

The Most Popular Golfer Award was awarded to La Bamba. He received a $500.00 gift certificate from the league’s premier sponsor, Dorco Garage Doors. “ I am humbled”, said La Bamba with tears in his eyes.

Gordon’s Gin Golf League Invents Combination Thermometer and Covid 19 Test

Prior to being allowed into Stevo’s house for the testing players had their temperature taken with the patented thermometer and Covid 19 Rapid Tester. Pictured below is the Covid 19 Rapid Tester and Thermometer.

“ The only drawback is the thermometer is a rectal thermometer”, said Stevo who came up with the idea. Mayday was the eighth guy to get tested and said, “We have a deal signed with the US government to have these testers available at all US polling stations. If you think the line-ups at the polls are crazy now, wait until the American people find out they can get tested prior to casting their ballot”. President Trump  used a prototype of the testing kit prior to being released from the hospital. “I’m cured”, said the President.

La Bamba secured a factory in China to mass produce these kits and the quality control will be overseen by scientists at the Wuhan Lab. “Unfortunately, there is only one way to do quality control but since China unleashed the virus on the world, they were more than happy provide “volunteers’ to do quality control”, said La Bamba.

No players tested positive at Stevo’s nor did anybody have a fever. Although one player who did not want to be named wished he had a false positive so he could be tested again.

“ It would have been nice if Stevo provided some KY to make sure the testing went a bit smoother”, said the Big Easy.

The testing kit generated a lot of attention on Stevo’s street. His neighbors were lined up down the block to have their testing done. “ I would have lined up at the Covid site at the hospital but since this test gives immediate results, I thought it would be a good idea”, said Sally, Stevo’s neighbor.

In Other News

Look for an e-mail. The Gordon’s Gin Golf League will be organizing outdoor street hockey games. The new testing kit will be available under a tent prior to letting players play. Location TBD but looking at Sunday’s at 11:00am.

Responses to the survey sent out by Rocky relative to season startup under COVID are due this Friday, October 9th.  Many have responded but we need to hear from everyone. It is a pretty simple survey and takes a few minutes. Look how simple it is…see Bullwinkle’s quick email response that took maybe 3 minutes to complete:

Rocky,
See below responses.

Bullwinkle J. Moose

Franchise Player
Windsor Tomcats Hockey Club
Established 1989
https://windsortomcats.com/

ACTUAL RESPONSES REMOVED DUE TO HIPAA REGULATIONS

See, it’s that easy. Quick email to let the Tomcats know where you stand.

Thanks,
Rocky

In case you missed the email, see the survey that all Tomcats are being asked to respond to Rocky on:

Tomcats,

 

Since this season start is delayed, let’s look back at the recap of the first night of Tomcat hockey in 2011:

 

by Harry Ballsonue

TEAM WHITE HAWKS; Cribs, Lovie, Razor, Sunny, Soupy, Hurricane, Chevy, Doc, Snowpants and Sparky

TEAM BLACK CATS; Rake, Stevo, Crow, Spinner, Shamus, Rocky, Junior, Skippy and Yuri.

The season did start with a bang and a thump and a ball to the eye….It all involved Doc and his crazy way, when he crashed the crease and almost knocked poor Skippy unconscious. No penalty was called on the play.

Later in the game, Doc took a ball to the eye ball and went out of the game for a good 40 minutes.

The scores were 7-4 and 7-6 for the Black Cats.

In the second game, the White Hawks were up 5 to 2, but a fierce determined run by the Black Cats, had them score 4 unanswered goals to make it 6 to 5. Sunny came in and razzled, dazzled and then razzled some more and scored to tie it up. Then with a stroke of some luck Spinner was in front of the net as it hit Razor’s pad and bounced on to his stick. 7-6 for the Black Cats as they carried Spinner off the floor on their shoulders, shouting ‘Spinner, Spinner, Spinner”.

Honorable mention goes to both net minders, Razor and Skippy who did a splendid job on a very hot night at the Kapusta Kow.

Hockey costs only $40 dollars for the year and your first week is included in the price.

Rake and Spark provided beer tonight and Lovie gets ‘the big solid’ award, by brining a 40 banger of Wisers, ‘just because’..that is leadership my readers.

Tomcats provided 10 extra beers tonight and will do so as the year continues..if beer is needed.

Have you had a chance to read the September Issue of the St. Felix? I strongly suggest you do, as it is loaded with fun information on the Windsor Tomcats.

Till next time, keep your stick on the floor and go to the net and good things will happen as I put my Harry Ballsonue.

Dave Hann training circa 1987If 2020 were a normal year (and it has been anything but), the Tomcats would be in their final week of pre-season conditioning.  Chevy would be wrapping up his 15km weekly runs, Snowpants would be waxing his pants and knee pads to allow for frictionless sliding across the floor, Falcon would be thinking about putting his equipment back in the bag (who’s kidding…it is still in there from the last night of hockey in March), dedicated Tomcats would be meeting at the Kapusta to make sure the stage, floor and Tomcat Room were ready for the season.

However, none of that is to be this week. Instead, Tomcat Management is preparing a questionnaire to gauge interest and concerns for a November start. Be on the lookout for this shortly.

Rest assured, other planning is happening. Start of the year gifts are being ordered, Stevo is blocking his calendar for the week before and after the February tournament so he can get into his “Tomcat Christmas” mindset, Rocky has purchased extra backup chargers for his phone to handle the rash of Tuesday afternoon calls and texts about who is playing or not, and Killer has placed an order for new, fancy garden gloves.

So with the extra training/conditioning time allotted this year, what will YOU do to prepare for the eventual start of Tomcat hockey?  Let us know. We hear Chevy is looking for running partners on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings.

 

By Chuck Fina

AUGUST 17, 2020 – POINTE WEST DAY 1

The Cougar Bush tour kept their tournament in Canada this year for the first time since 1989 and before it was called the Cougar Bush Tour. Due to border restrictions, Cougar Bush President Chevy organized 3 days of golf at some of this region’s finest courses.

Monday was Point West. There were 2 foursomes and one 3 some. Snowpants was on the DL. As readers know Snowpants is a bee keeper and makes honey for his escorts. Unfortunately, Snowpants was stung by a swarm of his own bees the day before play Monday. He was rushed to the hospital by Air Ambulance and the doctors diagnosed him with Covid 19.

It was all La Bamba Monday. Drives, putts, chips. He was on fire. Since he hasn’t been flying around the world, he invested a thousand dollars an hour to take golf lessons from the Big Easy. The lessons certainly paid off as La Bamba was on fire.

After the round, Bubbles graciously invited the tour back to his  mansion on the Detroit River. He treated the guys with refreshments and even brought May Day a Diet Coke.

“What a guy”, said May Day, almost in tears.

The guys also had their picture taken by Bubbles’ girlfriend, Petunia, who is a professional photographer. “ I have never seen a camera that big”, said Stevo as the guys lined up for their very wide angled shot.

During the afternoon, La Bamba swam to Boblo island. It was a sight to see. He held his beer above water the entire way with one hand and used only one arm to swim. When La Bamba swam back from Boblo island, he emerged from the water to roaring applause and he had 10 perch he had caught with his toes while swimming.

AUGUST 18, 2020 – KINGSVILLE

Cougar Bush was at Kingsville on Tuesday. The guys were clearly the youngest on the course. The average age of a Kingsville golf member is 80 years– old but the guys brought their god humor and had the geezers howling. The Turk wins the Covid award for smartest golfer. He brought each guy a shot glass for doing shots on birdie holes.

“I was just adhering to the Covid rules. No big deal”, said the Turk.

La Bamba tore up Kingsville as well shooting in the 60’s. After the round La Bamba invited the guys back to his estate in South Windsor for a perch fish fry.

There was huge fish fry at La Bamba’s after the round and there were a thousand fans and a thousand protestors at this shin-dig.

Rumor has it some guys went straight to Blenheim Wednesday from La Bamba’s.

August 19, 2020 – Willow Ridge

The final day of the tour was held at the Willow Ridge Golf and Country Club. All  La Bamba’s relatives were on hand to greet the guys at the clubhouse after the round. It was another great day of golf with Chevy handing out top prizes and a cheque for $75,000.00 to the Bundura and Stevo. “ I played like shit today. It was all Mr. Bundura who carried us”, said Stevo.

 

A big THANK YOU goes out to Chevy for organizing this year’s tour. He did a great job and should be acknowledged for his efforts.

“ I love these guys”, said Chevy.

Players this year were as follows;

Lovey, who flew in from Sarnia.

Sunny

LaBamba

Chevy

May Day

Stevo

Mr. Bundura.

Bubbles

The Big Easy

Snowpants

Turk

Chevy

Hatchie

Cribzee

Notes;

August 31, 2020 will be the last round May Day is organizing for the Gordon’s Gin League. Text Mayday before Thursday at 9:00 if you want in.

This and That

Not to worry readers, Stevo finally staggered back to Essex after blowing his engine in his vintage corvette after racing to Montreal to line up for Habs season tickets. “I am done with the Leafs”, said Stevo who was still visibly shaken from after another Leaf collapse. The be back in 5 minutes sign that was on his garage door has been removed.

A notable absence on the Cougar Bush Tour was the Sea Lion who was out of town. Reporters saw the Sea Lion looking at a donkey farm in Bowmanville that was for sale. “I’m thinking of moving out that way. I have always loved donkeys and once the country goes completely green, I can rent them out as tractors. A lot of my people are in Bowmanville and I like the area.”, said the Sea Lion.

The Legend used to say, “ Work Hard, Play Hard, Be Hard”.

The Legend now says, “Work Safe, Play Safe, Be Hard.

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!