Page 20 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 95

20 Issue #95 December 2020 www.sportsenergynews.com

Walkin’ The Beat With The Cornwall Police Service

Stay Off Our Naughty List This Holiday Season

Drunk Driving, crashes involving • Licence reinstatement fee (payable will have various RIDE programs
alcohol and/or drugs are a leading to the Ministry of Finance + GST) - planned throughout the holidays to
criminal cause of death in Canada, $150 ensure residents are not endangering
with up to four Canadians killed daily • Increases to insurance costs (payable themselves and other motorists on the
and many more injured in alcohol and/ roadways. If you suspect someone is
to your insurance company in $6000
or drug-related motor vehicle crashes. driving while impaired, please do not
increments for each of the next 3
In addition to risking the lives years) - $18,000 (minimum) hesitate to call police by dialing 9-1-1.
of others, there are substantial and • Ignition interlock device - $1,350 There are so many alternatives to
expensive consequences to impaired (plus installation fee) getting behind the wheel after drinking
driving. An example of some of the or consuming drugs, including a taxi,
Stephanie McRae costs a person can expect if they • Court costs (payable to your legal using public transportation, or calling
Communications Co-ordinator are convicted for the first time for counsel) - $2,000 to $10,000 a sober friend.
impaired driving: The MINIMUM monetary total for
With the holiday season upon us, Please plan ahead and celebrate
the Cornwall Police Service (CPS) • Criminal Code Fine (payable to the a first-time conviction for impaired responsibly this holiday season.
Government of Canada) - $1,000 driving is $23,078. Keep in mind these
is once again asking residents to On behalf of the CPS, I wish you
costs are minimal when compared to
not drive if they have been drinking • Remedial Measures Program the cost of a lost life. all a Merry Christmas and a safe and
alcohol or using drugs. (payable to Back on Track + GST) - happy New Year!
$578 As in previous years, the CPS
According to Mothers Against

presents Sports Panel

In response to risks posed by the COVID pandemic, the OHL and other junior hockey leagues have decided to
adopt a “no body-contact” policy when they return to play. What do you think of this decision?

Peter Collins - Sports Enthusiast -What next; the PGA playing mini putt, MLB teams in a whiffle ball tourney, or maybe the NFL becoming a flag
football league? Wherever Don Cherry is these days, he must be spouting off about conspiracy theories and the unfortunate state of junior hockey
in Canada. I can imagine after hearing about the “no body-contact” policy that he’s comparing the OHL’s season to a figure skating competition!
Rightfully so, because it appears that the leaders in junior hockey are using COVID-19 as a reason to eliminate body checking in hockey. Maybe it’s to
appease those who find contact sports crude and barbaric? Does science support that banning body-contact in hockey will solve the pandemic spread?
Wouldn’t mandating face shields and other protective gear be a more prudent approach, rather than eliminating contact which is part of the essence of
the sport?
CCM has developed the Game-On Mask which players can wear with a helmet to help mitigate the risk of virus transmission. The recent NHL season
was completed with full contact and there were very few issues despite the large amount of hitting happening during the 2019-20 playoffs. The
biggest issue in containing the virus, as witnessed in the U.S. during their college football season, is students’ off-the-field activities. When you are a
part of the late teens to early twenties demographic, you share the air of invincibility that permeates that world. Maybe we should wrap our students
in cellophane to protect them! Cancelling events, limiting spectators, and limiting access are all acceptable policies. The public practice of social
distancing and wearing masks at this time is absolutely necessary. Playing politics and involving sports is not! Play the OHL season the right way, or
cancel it altogether.

Jake Lapierre - Conditioning Coach - The OHL’s decision to adopt a “no body-contact” policy was more a government mandate rather
than an adoption. Ontario’s Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Minister Lisa MacLeod said a return-to-play for the Ontario Hockey
League would mean a return without bodychecking; a decision sparked by several COVID-19 outbreaks among Quebec Major Junior
Hockey League teams this fall.

Bodychecking and body contact in hockey has been a hotly debated topic for a long time; COVID-19 has suddenly made it easy to ban
bodychecking from the game entirely. The real focus must be on keeping players safe to play the game as it was designed to be played.
Leagues and teams must ensure all personnel and players abide by strict guidelines with mandated testing, safe controls on benches and in
busy dressing rooms, and ensure staff and players stick to strict bubble guidelines. Without these guidelines, the spread of the virus won’t
change with or without bodychecking.

Jim Riddell - Seaway Karate Club Lisa MacLeod, Ontario’s Minister of Sports announced that the OHL would be required to modify their play to
eliminate deliberate body contact until either a COVID vaccine is available or a public health clearance has been issued. MacLeod went on to say, “This
is not about politics and hockey, it’s about a global pandemic and we are guided by healthcare policy.”
The OHL is a league known for developing future NHL players – in the 2020 draft, five of the top-ten players chosen in the 1st round came from the
OHL. The “no body-contact” rule will have a negative impact on player development and make it difficult for NHL scouts to properly evaluate prospects
leading up to the 2021 draft. How does a power forward or a physical defenceman showcase his skills when he is prohibited from playing that part of
his game? It will be difficult to properly assess OHL players when the rules they are being forced to play by are different from those in other leagues.