If we get a season 21/22

[august04 2.0]

How do we all feel watching full capacity arenas at Stanley Cup games?

More and more US states are allowing capacity crowds at seated indoor venues with safety procedures in place and a smaller percentage of the population having had a vaccine than Wales.

I'll be paying close attention to how that affects their case numbers etc. But unless COVID goes severely off the rails in the coming months, I can't see any plausible reason why we can't enjoy the same freedoms in 4/5 months time - especially if procedures such as masks, vaccine passports, temperature checks, sanitisation stations etc. are available.

The US is opening up for those who can prove that they’ve been fully vaccinated and it’s hard to argue against that, if we trust our vaccines. What’s the point in having them if we don’t? Apparently, we’re just a couple of weeks away from having the same NHS app in Wales, as they have in England - which will in effect serve as your vaccine passport. Provided people can show that or proof of a negative test result on this app., before entry, why not full capacity? By the start of the season, every adult in Wales will have been offered full vaccination (and my bet is that they will start rolling out to 12-17 year olds by then too, to avoid spreading in schools in the next school year).

 

[BostonBart22]

Somehow gotta keep the english out of Wales, cases doubled in a week and rising think their june 21st road plan freedom day will b e delayed at least by 2 weeks if not more..

 

[Kevlar68]

The only saving grace is Schools are back open so won't be to many holiday makers from England coming over.

 

[august04 2.0]

Somehow gotta keep the english out of Wales, cases doubled in a week and rising think their june 21st road plan freedom day will b e delayed at least by 2 weeks if not more..

Not necessarily. The vaccine roll out in England is behind Wales. These Northern England cities with high densities of BAME communities who for whatever reason haven’t taken up the vaccine in great numbers (until recently), are where the the real problems are with the Delta/Indian variant. Wales has an older population than England, which means virtually all of our most vulnerable are fully vaccinated now, with better vaccination rates in the adult population generally in Wales too - that’s why we haven’t really seen the numbers increasing greatly of this variant in Wales. Holidaymakers from England have been coming into Wales since the lockdown was lifted, and ours case numbers here are still very good. No deaths in 13 days I believe.

 

[terry hunt]

How would Devils fans feel about us playing preseason games in England if the arena stays shut.
The crowds may not be great but the Swindon ice hockey folk i have found are pretty good.
Easy drive/bus trip except for the roundabouts.
I dont know the situation at Bracknell but i always enjoyed visiting there.

 

[moggy#9]

How would Devils fans feel about us playing preseason games in England if the arena stays shut.
The crowds may not be great but the Swindon ice hockey folk i have found are pretty good.
Easy drive/bus trip except for the roundabouts.
I dont know the situation at Bracknell but i always enjoyed visiting there.

I thought Bracknell had been closed down.

 

[terry hunt]

The John Nike centre has sadly closed permanently for financial reasons/covid.There is a smaller arena opening this year for ice hockey.Bristol new arena run by Planet Ice is now planned for September again lower capacity.
Perhaps our clever owners could arrange a grand opening ceremony with one or both of these facilities and have preseason games with Coventry/Panthers or even Sheffield. It could expand and revive the existing ice hockey fanbase in these areas.
May be a temporary home for the Devils till the IAW reopens.The Nike family at Bracknell and the Wildcats have always been pretty good with us as far as i recall.We still have player connections also.We did steal many of their best players/coaches who did a good job for us.

 

[terry hunt]

The situation in England is a farce.
Take a close look at the test match against the Kiwis i dont see much sign of Covid control.
Everybody completley pissed by teatime.

 

[moggy#9]

The John Nike centre has sadly closed permanently for financial reasons/covid.There is a smaller arena opening this year for ice hockey.Bristol new arena run by Planet Ice is now planned for September again lower capacity.
Perhaps our clever owners could arrange a grand opening ceremony with one or both of these facilities and have preseason games with Coventry/Panthers or even Sheffield. It could expand and revive the existing ice hockey fanbase in these areas.
May be a temporary home for the Devils till the IAW reopens.The Nike family at Bracknell and the Wildcats have always been pretty good with us as far as i recall.We still have player connections also.We did steal many of their best players/coaches who did a good job for us.

I always had a lot of time for the people I dealt with in the Bracknell organisation. They were lovely helping me organise player interviews and were great on match nights.

 

[Wannabe2]

My good friend Craig was the in house cameraman covering the Bees games, also done Cardiff’s for a number of years. Great guy.

 

[pjj365]

I'm confused

IAW opening for Junior Devils on 1 August but Deeside post this on face book:

I know that many of you have been waiting for news about when Deeside ice rink will
be reopening. Unfortunately we have some bad news, as the continued discussions mean we still don’t have a date for reopening. As such, it’s extremely unlikely that the Dragons will be able to ice a team for the upcoming 21/22 season. The Dragons are just as disappointed to hear this news as all of you, however the decision is out of our hands, as well as out of the hands of Aura and Flintshire County Council. The Dragons organisation misses the Den and all of our brilliant fans, and we hope it won’t be too much longer before we can get the Den rocking again.

Bebbo ❤️

 

[moggy#9]

I'm confused

IAW opening for Junior Devils on 1 August but Deeside post this on face book:

I know that many of you have been waiting for news about when Deeside ice rink will
be reopening. Unfortunately we have some bad news, as the continued discussions mean we still don’t have a date for reopening. As such, it’s extremely unlikely that the Dragons will be able to ice a team for the upcoming 21/22 season. The Dragons are just as disappointed to hear this news as all of you, however the decision is out of our hands, as well as out of the hands of Aura and Flintshire County Council. The Dragons organisation misses the Den and all of our brilliant fans, and we hope it won’t be too much longer before we can get the Den rocking again.

Bebbo ❤️

Presumably that means that iaw expects to begin the process of getting ice down again pretty much the minute a go ahead is given (assuming that happens on the 21st).

I'm assuming that there are factors affecting deeside (maybe equipment or staff) which aren't quite the same issue for us.

 

[Devil94]

I think our first game of the season will be the home CHL round, if that goes ahead. I cant see how we will get a game before that, no other team in the UK will have a team ready in August.
First game 26th August, as long as the ice is ready to go two weeks before then.
Ice rinks due to be allowed to open in Wales 21st June according to last WG briefing. Have seen no update that that has changed.

 

[Kevlar68]

Just by my experience of laying the ice on the old WNIR pad it only took us 48 hours continuous work and that's with cutting ice back, layering new ice, painting logos and finishing off.
With a pad that's already clear and a newer better base I guess it would take allot less time than 48 hours to get the pad ready to use.

 

[moggy#9]

Just by my experience of laying the ice on the old WNIR pad it only took us 48 hours continuous work and that's with cutting ice back, layering new ice, painting logos and finishing off.
With a pad that's already clear and a newer better base I guess it would take allot less time than 48 hours to get the pad ready to use.

Forgive my ignorance, but where does the rest of the six weeks Todd was talking about come from then? Is this around maintenance of the plant before the ice starts getting out down?

 

[Kevlar68]

I suppose it's everything that goes with getting to game ready. Staff, players, team confirmation for games, arranging schedules, ticket sales . The ice is most probably the easiest to sort out.