Ice hockey rivals take different approaches to same COVID opponent

Women's ice hockey superpowers Canada and the United States have had similar preparations for the Beijing Olympics but when it comes to COVID-19, they are taking very different approaches.

While Canadian players are cloistered in a bubble in Calgary, their American counterparts are going about their daily lives in a business-as-usual manner with no added precautions beyond the normal social-distancing, mask wearing and assessing individual threat levels.

"We're not in a bubble," veteran U.S. forward Hilary Knight, who will be playing in her fourth Olympics, told Reuters.

"We do the best we can to kind of simulate a hybrid bubble but by no means are we in a sort of sealed environment that would totally mitigate bringing the possibility of COVID to our environment.

"It is a challenging time right now."

In contrast, Canadian players moved into a bubble in mid-January and will remain in one until leaving for Beijing on Jan. 26.

Gina Kingsbury, director of women’s national teams with Hockey Canada, said team movements would be restricted to the hotel and practice rink and remain secluded from the public until their departure.

"From now until then, we're basically in a bubble," Kingsbury said following the announcement of the rosters on Jan. 11. "We're going to take every precaution that we possibly can as a group to remain safe.

"Even within our group, we'll be very careful and diligent to make sure that we're again in a safe environment."

The Canadians are aware of the risks coronavirus poses as the final two games of their Rivalry Series with the U.S. on Jan. 3 in Edmonton and Jan. 6 in Red Deer had to be cancelled after several Canadian players and staff were placed in COVID-19 protocol.

Knight said U.S. players are also keenly