. The first round of the NHL playoffs would have just begun in five Canadian cities. In bars and restaurants everywhere, prodigious amounts of beer and food would have been consumed by fans seated elbow to elbow.
Instead, he and his co-owner have temporarily laid off 240 of 250 employees from two establishments, including the sprawling social house less than a kilometre from the Oilers home rink. There were 189 regular-season games remaining when hockey was interrupted in an attempt to help control the contagious respiratory illness. Despite measures such as physical distancing and isolation, more than 21,000 Canadians have become sick with COVID-19 and more than 500 have died.
“Everybody was watching [the coronavirus] out of the corner of their eyes, but nobody saw this happening to the extent that it has,” says Dan Lussier, the chief executive officer of the Winnipeg-based Canad Inns. The chain operates hotels and eight Tavern United sports bars throughout the city. “Last year was such a remarkable year for us,” says Heather Santsche, the general manager of Gretzky’s. “It was stressful, but at the same time it was exciting and so very special.“Right now, I miss that camaraderie we all felt last year. I think everyone craves that connection with sports. It brings everybody together.”
“Suddenly, I realized it was a much bigger problem than that,” she says. “Everyone and everything has been turned upside down. We are sort of approaching this day by day and hour by hour.” “We finally got a bunch of Canadian teams in, and here we are now,” says PJ L’Heureux, the founder and owner of the Craft Beer Market chain. He has two restaurants in Calgary, and one each in Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver.All of them sit idle, although the franchise in downtown Toronto will reopen for takeout on Tuesday.
In February, Darren Moulds and Meg Mckee celebrated the Vagabond Pub’s fifth year in Calgary. Their restaurant sits directly across from the famous Stampede Grounds and is only a few hundred metres from the Scotiabank Saddledome.