It Is Always Darkest Before Dawn

It is said that the night is always darkest before the dawn, and we believe this is the case right now. Everyone is tired of this pandemic. We all want to get back to doing things we could before. Like play hockey, go to a bar and have a drink, or visit with friends.

We feel you!

That being said, we are not there yet. Today the government of Alberta is announcing new restriction as hospitalizations are at 671 people, and ICU admissions are hovering around 150. Things look gloomy, no doubt. When will all this ever end? And when can we play summer hockey?!

We still believe the summer hockey season will happen this year. Here are some things to consider.

Sure, case numbers are going up, but so is the number of vaccines given to people. Alberta’s population is broken down to about 80/20 adults to children. As of today, nearly 1.67 million doses have been administered. Our guess is these went to adults, mostly. Our provincial population is about 4.4 million people. Quick math shows that about 37.9% of adults have been vaccinated.

Vaccine deliveries are ramping up in May. Pfizer alone is set to deliver 2 million vaccines per week to Canada. Moderna is also sending us product. And we have not even touched the stuff the US is saying it will release from its stock piles to help its allies.

All this is great news! At some point we are going to reach herd immunity. When may this be? Based on some recent analysis, it looks like by June 5th, 75% of adults could receive their first dose in Canada. And by June 28th, 20% of adults will have had their second dose.

We think this is very likely. And if we get more vaccines we can achieve these numbers quicker. Essentially we have a floor under when hockey may come back. What we don’t know is when the restrictions will begin to lift. Will it be June 5th? Or will it be the end of June? Hard to say. Either way, this still gives us enough time for a summer season.

Sure it may look different again, and sure it may be shorter in duration, perhaps with less games. But there is a really really good chance it will happen. And who doesn’t want to play hockey right now?!

Like we said before, our commitment to you is, if we are unable to put on the season because of restrictions, we will fully refund your fees as we did last winter season. Same goes if the season is shortened and we can play a smaller number of games.

There is a light in the end of the tunnel, we can clearly see it. We just need to get things under control as a province, so we can back to hockey sooner than you think.

Thank you for your patience, we can’t wait to see you on the ice with us again!

The NCHL – A Better Way to Play!