Shinny hockey won’t be allowed when Toronto opens skating rinks to public: City
Posted November 26, 2020 1:09 pm.
Last Updated November 26, 2020 1:13 pm.
The City may have announced plans to open more than 50 outdoor skating rinks this weekend, but you can leave your hockey sticks and pucks behind.
The City’s announcement Wednesday didn’t specifically mention hockey, leading to some confusion among Toronto’s legions of shinny players.
But in an update Thursday, the City confirmed that hockey playing will be forbidden when rinks open due to COVID-19 lockdown rules currently in place.
“Currently, team sports, including hockey, cannot be played under provincial order and as a result people cannot play shinny at the City’s ice rinks,” a spokesperson told CityNews in an email.
Can someone with the city of Toronto please just say explicitly whether there will be any shinny hockey this winter on open outdoor rinks?
Signs point to no but it would be nice to have it clarified.
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) November 25, 2020
Hockey players may be left out in the cold, but there’s still plenty of ways to break a sweat in a safe manner.
Twenty-three toboggan hills, eight new snow loops for walking and snow-shooing at the city’s five golf courses, along with free, leisure skating at the City’s 54 outdoor ice rinks, are among the activities people will be able to participate in this winter.
The City says in order to help with physical distancing measures, a maximum of 25 people at a time will be allowed at all of the city’s outdoor ice rinks, including Nathan Phillips Square.
Reservations will need to be made online with skate times limited to 45-minute sessions during supervised hours.
