NHL players can resume skating in Ottawa

A rink in Ottawa has received approval from the Ontario government to re-open, the Ottawa Sun reported on Wednesday.

The decision allows local professional and junior hockey players to resume skating for the first time since the shutdown due to coronavirus.

The rink, Minto Arena, is required to enforce social distancing, with only five players permitted on the ice at a time. Players are able to book 50-minute sessions from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the manager of Minto Arena told the Ottawa Sun that it was booked through Thursday and Friday this week. Many of the sessions booked include one coach and four players, including local NHL and minor-league players.

The building is home to three ice surfaces, including a larger, international-sized ice surface, and only the international ice surface is being used.

Given that the social distancing measures make it difficult to run any sort of smaller games, the sessions likely will be used more so for skating drills.