An update on the 2022 World Juniors amid rising COVID concerns

The hockey world has been full of postponements over the month of December, and it's had some people worried that the World Juniors would be postponed or even cancelled. But fear not because according to TSN's Gord Miller, that won't be the case, at least not as of today (December 20th).

Everyone entering the restricted area will be subject to daily testing and must wear their masks, as was the case with last year's bubble tournament in Edmonton.

"Getting a lot of questions about the status of the #WorldJuniors, here is the situation as of today: The teams and on-ice officials have all been in Alberta since Dec 15. They're restricted to the hotel and arena with strict mask rules in place, they're undergoing daily testing," Miller said in a tweet on Monday.

He added, "Anyone arriving after December 15 who is entering a restricted area (including broadcast personnel) must have a negative test result within 48 hours prior to arrival, undergo daily testing and follow strict mask protocols when in common areas at the hotels and the arenas."

As for capacity limits, that remains to be a question. Currently, there are no restrictions put in place by the Alberta government, which mean's that as of today, their will still be 100% capacity in both Edmonton and Red Deer. But as everyone knows with COVID-19, things can change quickly, especially with the rise of the new Omicron variant.

In terms of attendance/capacity limits, Miller said, "As for what happens regarding attendance, that is up to the Alberta Government, which met with Public Health officials over the weekend. It's possible (not definite) that the tournament will be played with reduced capacity, but no announcement had been made as of Sunday night."

Hockey Canada announced on Saturday that they were cancelling all previously scheduled pre-tournament games that were supposed to start yesterday. An announcement with a new pre-tournament schedule is expected to be released either today or tomorrow, but those games will likely be played on December 23 and 24th.

As usual, the tournament is set to get underway on Boxing Day, with the first game of this year's World Juniors set for 2pm ET/12pm MT (local) between Finland and Germany.

Getting a lot of questions about the status of the #WorldJuniors, here is the situation as of today:
The teams and on-ice officials have all been in Alberta since Dec 15. They're restricted to the hotel and arena with strict mask rules in place, they're undergoing daily testing.— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) December 20, 2021

As for what happens regarding attendance, that is up to the Alberta Government, which met with Public Health officials over the weekend. It's possible (not definite) that the tournament will be played with reduced capacity, but no announcement had been made as of Sunday night.— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) December 20, 2021

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