They may be playing without fans for the next little while, but after this weekend’s postponed games the Guelph Storm will return to action at Sleeman Centre and on the road, team officials confirm.
Wednesday’s planned home game against Windsor Spitfires was called off hours ahead of the puck being dropped, with a Friday and Saturday home-and-home series against Owen Sound Attack also put on hold as the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) completes and submits a return to play plan to local public health units and the province for approval.
After that, Storm players will be back in competition, said Matt Newby, the club’s vice-president of business operations.
“Everybody, I think, is on the same page,” he said of updating the return to play plan to reflect current regulations and realities.
OHL representatives couldn’t be immediately reached to comment on the status of the return to play plan. On Wednesday, league officials announced plans to continue the season.
With the no spectators until at least Jan. 27 rule announced on Monday and in place on Wednesday, there simply wasn’t enough time to have the plan ready and approved ahead of the Spitfires game, so it was postponed, Newby said.
“We just didn’t have time to do it right,” he noted.
Guelph wasn’t the only city to see games postponed this way. Hamilton Bulldogs also pushed off three games, as was an Ottawa 67s game.
Of the OHL’s 20 teams, 17 are based in Ontario with the remaining three hailing south of the border where there are no capacity limits in place.
“We’re all just trying to follow the regulations,” said Danna Evans, the City of Guelph’s general manager of culture and recreation. “We’ll definitely work with (Storm) as best we can.”
The Storm's next game is set for Jan. 13 in Windsor, with a Jan. 14 home game against the Flint Firebirds.
