Collins-Moylan Arena in Greenfield is on track and optimistic it will be able to reopen on Nov. 7. That’s the first day rinks across the Bay State will be allowed to welcome skaters back following an immediate, mandatory two-week shutdown of all youth hockey arenas by Governor Charlie Baker put into motion Oct. 23.
No positive cases have been reported from Collins-Moylan since youth practices resumed this summer, and Arena Manager Bill Buck said the rink has followed all state protocols put in place.
The shutdown was put into place last week after Baker’s office said there was a rise in cases at youth hockey rinks throughout the state, and those cases were coming in clusters which forced a shutdown to prevent further outbreak. State health regulators linked more than 100 COVID-19 cases to hockey rinks.
Baker also said a Department of Public Health investigation identified more than 30 COVID clusters linked to youth hockey with at least 110 confirmed cases and 22 more probable cases spread across at least 66 cities and towns, though he believes the number is actually higher and unreported.
One of the main ways hockey rinks have been trying to slow down the spread of the virus is through contract tracing. Buck said Collins-Moylan followed the contract tracing protocols put in place by the state, keeping track of everyone who entered the rink and at what time.
Baker’s office said that issues around the state came from coaches failing to keep updated rosters or not providing them to the arena, as well as failing to identify which parents or spectators were at each event. With teams playing at arenas throughout the state and not limited to just local arenas, this became an issue.
Baker said he believes that COVID-19 transmission at hockey rinks comes from irresponsible behavior by coaches and parents, not from the actual game itself. This problem has led to other nearby states like New Hampshire putting similar restrictions in place.
“There were a number of instances where the team would not hand over the rosters of players, so you didn’t even know who was playing for us to make the contact, or coaches in a couple of instances telling families and the players to not respond to the contact tracers,” Massachusetts Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders told reporters earlier this week. “Not sharing the rosters so that you can’t make the phone calls is, for us, not acceptable.”
Going forward, one way Collins-Moylan hopes to expand its contact tracing is having someone from each group —hockey teams, figure skating groups, etc — be the focal point for all information with that particular entity. This would allow the rink to have greater contact tracing for anyone who has entered the rink in the event of a positive test.
Another potential option would be limiting team rooms to avoid close contact and cutting down the number of parents or spectators allowed inside the building. If problems continue, there is the chance that parents or spectators would be banned completely.
Safe social distancing and other safety measures will remain in place once rinks are reopened on Nov. 7. The state has said that if rinks do not follow the protocols put in place, they would be closed down yet again.