By Trevor Stynes
MILAN, Italy, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Canada women’s hockey team brushed off concerns over the postponement of their opening game at the Olympics due to Finland players falling ill with norovirus, and they are even more eager to get started, forward Jennifer Gardiner said on Saturday.
Canada face Switzerland on Saturday, with that game going ahead after Swiss Ice Hockey Federation said one of their players tested positive for norovirus and other team members were initially isolated as a precaution.
Champions Canada were due to begin their title defence on Thursday but after four Finnish players contracted the virus and other team members were required to isolate, they were forced to wait, delaying Gardiner’s Games debut.
“If anything, the excitement has only continued to grow,” Gardiner told reporters.
“There’s been such a buildup of getting to play our first game. I was so excited and obviously things happen and we have to be adaptable and that’s kind of something our team has talked about. It’s such an uncontrollable thing.”
Thursday’s postponement came hours before the puck was scheduled to drop, but Canada made the most of the unexpected free time.
“We got to use that opportunity that night as extra time to practice and get into a sleep routine here because we have some later games throughout the tournament,” Gardiner said.
“We took something that may seem like a disadvantage and using that to our advantage and continuing to be adaptable.”
Sometimes called the winter vomiting bug, norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis globally, according to the World Health Organization.
The International Olympic Committee said the Finnish and Swiss cases were unrelated.
HAPPY GAME IS GOING AHEAD
The game with Finland was rescheduled for February 12, one day before the knockout stage begins and two days after the other teams finish playing the preliminary round. Canada are just happy they still get to play that game.
“I think it’s have to play or get to play,” Gardiner said.
“I’m really excited that we get to play that game, and Finland’s a great opponent.”
Gardiner’s teammate Blayre Turnbull, a gold medallist four years ago and silver medallist in 2018, said the virus was a worry.
“Obviously there’s concerns with how contagious it is, but I think we’re doing everything we can to keep our distance and stay safe,” Turnbull said.
“We’ve got a great medical team who have been really helpful with guiding us on what to do and extra precautions we can take. So we feel safe in the village.”
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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