World Junior teams frustrated with IIHFs protocols

Hockey fans around the world were extremely excited to have the World Juniors back this year, but in the early goings the tournament has been anything but smooth sailing.

Before the tournament even began, the preliminary games were postponed due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. As we know now, they were able to still begin the tournament, but several games have had to be forfeited due to players testing positive for the virus. According to team officials, players are doing everything they can to stay safe, including staying in their rooms and obeying all other protocols. One staff member on a European team went as far as to say the current protocols and lack of isolation from the community has been «ridiculous», saying that the players have come into contact with guests from a wedding which is set to take place at the team's hotel tonight.

The frustration here is certainly warranted given that these players can't prevent coming into contact with the regular public if they are all staying at the same hotel. The tournament organizers clearly misjudged the severity of this all, and made a major mistake not putting these players in a bubble set up similar to what we saw the NHL do for the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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