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26 // AUGUST 2020 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM Some see it as a political statement. Others, a fashion statement. No matter what your opinion about wearing a protective mask out in public, health professionals agree that doing so can help prevent the spread of Covid-19. Most rinks require hockey players, coaches and spectators to wear a mask when entering and exiting their facility and while lacing up their skates. But much like skate guards, it's probably best to take off a mask before your skate blades touch the ice. According to USA Hockey's medical professionals, players should wear cloth masks at all times, except while playing. The same holds true with on-ice officials. Studies have found that covering your face with a mask during high intensity aerobic activity, such as playing hock- ey, can restrict breathing and elevate a player's heart rate. That's why it's not recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization. "Wearing a mask while playing hockey can make it more difficult to breathe. Oxygen intake may decrease and CO2 retention may increase during high intensity exercise" said USA Hockey's Chief Medical and Safety Officer Dr. Michael Stuart. "I don't think we're going to see a lot of players wearing cloth masks on the ice, but we respect their personal choice." In addition, Stuart recommends that coaches, officials, parents, and specta- tors wear masks as much as possible. A cloth mask protects the wearer's nose and mouth from contact with droplets and may protect others by reducing exposure to the saliva and respiratory secretions of the mask wearer. This is especially important if someone is infected but does not have symptoms. In addition to wearing a mask, Stuart said there are other com- mon-sense approaches to preventing the spread of COVID-19. "It gets back to the basic principles ," he said. "We're going to frequently sanitize our hands, try to avoid touching our face, stay socially distant when possible and disinfect everything around us." "As of 9 o'clock on Tuesday morning, we're still open," joked Art Trottier, the vice president of ICE, the organiza- tion that oversees the Anaheim Ducks facilities in the area. Despite the quip, Trottier knows the safety of his custom- ers is no laughing matter. "We took our time and wanted to make sure it was safer for people to come back in our buildings," said Trottier after the July 9 opening. "I think people are happy to be back, but they 're also happy with our efforts to create a safe environment. It's great to get the emails from people saying how safe they feel coming into our building." M o s t r i n k s r e q u i r e e v e r y o n e e n t e r i n g their building to wear masks everywhere but on the ice, and players are encouraged to come p a r t i a l l y d r e s s e d a s locker rooms in many f a c i l i t i e s r e m a i n o f f l i m i t s. T h e y a r e a l s o encouraged to maintain a safe social distance on the players' benches. To achieve this at the National Sports Center in Blaine, Minn., Pete Carlson's crew removed t h e e n d c a p s t o t h e b e n c h e s a n d a d d e d more protective mats f o r p l a y e r s t o s t a n d apart from each other a s t h e y wa i t f o r t h e i r next shift. And at the Northtown Center in Amherst, N.Y., practice times are staggered at the top and bottom of the hour to keep participants from com- ing in contact with each other. And once the locker rooms are empty, rink staff come in and disinfect the entire area, including the hallway. "It's probably a little bit more conservative than some other rinks in the area are being, but I would rather err on the side of caution and be more conservative because of the size of the facility, than just sort of get back to that business as usual standpoint," said general manager Eric Guzdek. All these efforts can only do so much. At the end of the day, returning to a rink or any other public setting is not without its risks, and adding contracting Covid-19 to the mix just makes it even more daunting. "Hockey is a high risk sport by everybody 's definition because of the confined space, the number of players on the ice, the contact, etc.," Stuart said. "As we get back to our sport full tilt, we're going to have to look at other ways to mitigate risk because we can't eliminate it by social distancing when we play games." P PUTTING SAFETY ON THE FIRST LINE The Facts About Wearing Face Masks Most Rinks require all patrons and staff to wear a mask everywhere but on the ice. PHOTO BY Don Egdorf