Page 21 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 90

www.sportsenergynews.com Issue #90 July 2020 21

Crane-in at Stormont Yacht Club

until further notice.

By Christine Ouellet For more than half of the boat owners who
are leaving their boats in their cradle this
summer, their decision was motivated by the
threat of a second wave of COVID-19 in the
fall, which could jeopardize the crane-out
operations.
n June 19, MacGregor Crane from
OCornwall arrived at SYC to perform In spite of loosing seven weeks of sailing,
the delicate operation of picking up thirty Michel Daniaux, who went ahead with
boats from their cradle and transferring crane-in said: “If I am going to be confined
them into the bay. With MacGregor’s at home this summer, I prefer to be confined
expertise and long experience of handling on my boat in the middle of the lake where
boats in and out of the water, the operation I can sail at large aboard Centurion without
went smoothly. meeting a soul. It is a much more pleasant
alternative.”
Parks Canada, the landlord of the club,
finally gave its conditional permission (with Daniaux is also an avid rower and a
limitations) to resume sailing activity. All member of the Laval Rowing Team. Like
installations, except the washroom, remain most athletes who had to adapt to the new
closed and members who want to access situation, he intends to continue training by
the club-site must complete an online self- himself, on the lake, if training is suspended
health assessment prior to entering the for the summer.
property; no visitors/transient boats can Good wind to all who have gone ahead
dock or use the pumping station; all social with enjoying their summer months on the
activities and racing programs are cancelled water! Photos by Christine Ouellet

Sports Panel
presents

Question: What do you think of the NHL’s plan to have a summer playoff to declare a Stanley Cup

winner for the 2019/ 2020 season?

Gilles Gaudet - Sports Enthusiast -By the time the NHL resumes in early July, almost 4 months will have passed since the season was
temporarily suspended on March 12th due to the COVID crisis. The planned summer playoff response from the public could go one of two
ways.
Those missing the NHL will be giddy with excitement at the thought of a few months of intense playoff hockey. For many, watching all
those sports reruns and listening to the talking heads trying to dig up useless sports information has felt like the most tedious of pastimes.
On the other hand, many people have learned to exist without watching sports and have started walking, cycling, and generally engaging in
a more health conscious lifestyle. No doubt sales of Doritos and Coke are down since we couch potatoes have emerged from our basement
hibernations into the rarified air of the real world!
In the seven NHL cities that were not invited to the playoffs, this was the result that was expected; maybe they can win the draft lottery.
The new format will welcome an extra eight teams into the mix, giving fans of the mediocre Canadiens and the Black Hawks an unforeseen
chance to win the Cup. Overall, I think that the NHL brass did their best to save the season, and the format is as fair as could be expected.
Hockey in July and August should be interesting, with lots of high energy games and new storylines to follow. Let’s be clear that because of
the circumstances, it will be more difficult than ever to pick the eventual winner. However, one thing’s for certain: players won’t be drinking
from Lord Stanley’s Cup together!

Jake Lapierre - Conditioning Coach Gary Bettman and NHL commissioners have put together a plan to salvage the 2019/2020 NHL season,
however the league is facing many hurdles and a litany of unanswered questions surrounding the format and logistics with getting players
back on the ice in today’s reality.
First and foremost, player safety must be top of mind; the logistics with testing measures must be implemented & enforced. Hurdles include
the border issues, the mandatory quarantine regulations, deciding on two or four hub cities to play out the season. Will hub cities be split
between Canada and the United States or restricted to one country which would likely be the United States because of lucrative TV contracts?
Work visas must be addressed as visas expire at the end of June. Working through erratic government decisions also complicates the process
as foreign visas have recently been frozen in the US. Is there a loophole where pro-athletes are suddenly designated essential workers? Who
knows? I’m sure Mr. Bettman feels, managing the whole process is an exercise equivalent to herding cats.
What do I think of the NHL’s plan to have a summer playoff to declare a Stanley Cup winner for the 2019/ 2020 season? I say good luck
folks...

Jim Riddell - Seaway Karate Club - The COVID-19 pandemic caused the sports world to come to a complete halt in mid- March and here
we are several months later with no clear indication as to when things will get back to normal. The NHL’s decision to move forward with the
playoffs is a win-win situation for both the league and for hockey fans. It will have been 5 months without hockey by the time the playoffs
begin, and this will help fill the void of sports entertainment. For the league, playoff hockey is almost a necessity as projected league revenue
was approximately 5.5 billion dollars if the Stanley Cup is awarded and well under 4 billion if the playoffs were scrapped. This billion dollar
shortfall would have negative impact on several league franchises.