Less than two weeks after announcing the teams and format for this year's tournament, the Mac's AAA U18 International Hockey Tournament, which would have included the Okotoks Bow Mark Oilers, has been cancelled in light of the Omicron variant.
Mac's organizers issued a statement Dec. 21 announcing the cancellation of the yearly tournament, which is hosted in Calgary the week after Christmas.
"With the rising cases and constantly changing environment of the COVID-19 pandemic, we feel it is not appropriate to execute the tournament as planned," the announcement stated. "This decision was made after weighing all options and is based on many factors."
Those factors, according to the organizing committee, included consideration of the overall health and well-being of teams, spectators and volunteers, reported positive cases among teams that were slated to compete, the impact of newly announced reduced-capacity restrictions, and the inability to effectively isolate players due to arrival dates.
The organizers also cited the inability to replace teams on short notice, travel-related concerns expressed by some teams, the inability for minor-aged players to leave Canada in the event of a positive COVID-19 test, and the inability to reschedule games in the event of COVID-19 outbreaks.
"We are disappointed for the players, coaches and their families, but we hope for better days in 2022," the statement read. "We are considering all options moving forward, including rescheduling the tournament to a later date and will communicate any changes moving forward.
"No matter what happens, we look forward to a bigger and better tournament in the 2022-23 season."
The cancellation comes as Alberta experiences an exponential growth in Omicron cases – the province had reported 1,045 cases of the variant as of Dec. 21, making Omicron the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Alberta.
The tournament usually features some of the best high-school-aged hockey teams from across Canada and the United States, in addition to international representation from Europe. The Mac's tournament is typically attended by many scouts of major junior, professional, and post-secondary hockey programs, hoping to find talent for future years.
The tournament – which usually begins on Boxing Day and lasts until early January, with the gold-medal game held at the Scotiabank Saddledome – was also cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It hasn't taken place since 2019.
- with Scott Strasser, Great West Media files
