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From a parent …

Why we play hockey?  My son plays hockey to meet friends, learn life lessons, enjoy comradery, get exercise and allow him to get out of the house to boost his mental health.  We need hockey!  The long-term effect of staying in the house with no activity is going to impact all of our children’s physical and mental well-being.  "PLEASE BRING BACK HOCKEY"

From a hockey dad …

My son is part of a Mite travel team and this unnecessary pause is very detrimental to his mental health and hockey development.

My wife and I are calling the Governor’s office daily so they “can get a message”.  However, he seems to be digging into his position and we are being dismissed after multiple requests for a call back from someone in the governor’s office. Therefore, I would like to suggest an alternate course of action. More specifically a legal one.

I believe there is a case for a discrimination suit against the governor and state because college and professional sports are being allowed to continue yet for some reason amateur clubs are being singled out. Multiple UCONN varsity players have tested positive for COVID-19 yet college sports are allowed to continue. One can speculate about the motives behind such a decision.

 From a former NHLer …

We would like to join the group that wants ice hockey rinks opened. Please reconsider your restrictions and let these kids get out and enjoy their sport, get some exercise and get a needed mental boost !!!

From a parent and general sports enthusiast …

I, my family and many friends, believe the ban on sports is thoroughly wrong, on many levels, and we are angry and very ready to take action.  We have already participated in a similar effort around men's lacrosse and will continue that as we talk with our local officials about why lacrosse is not a high risk sport.

Therein lies why I am sending this note.  It is unfathomable to me that you would make a central part of your argument be that other sports (that are just as important to just as many kids and families) ARE high risk, pointing out their risks. That is terrible and infuriating!

Be mature, and, frankly, smart, and make the argument on hockey’s merits as compared to the medium/high risk definitions.  You have LOST this family’s support of this effort until that part of the argument changes completely.  Don’t throw other sports under the bus in an effort for hockey gains.

From a player …

My name is ____ , I’m 9 ½ years old and love playing hockey; please Let Me Play. This is the only team sport that I’m involved in, and I look forward to it all year. We’ve been having a great (safe) season so far, and I don’t want you to shut it down. If we can’t play hockey I’ll be home alone all winter and won’t be able to see my hockey friends, and I’ll lose a year of coaching and training which means I’m going to be way behind next year as well. Please, please, please update your guidelines so I can play with my team again. 

From a hockey mom and teacher …

I am a 20+ year teacher, with ten years of athletic coaching experience. I’m watching students quickly fade into a fog of a variety of mental illnesses and issues that athletics would easily cure or improve. I’ll not bore you with the piles of data I’ve accumulated about the correlation between exercise and mental illness, I’ll just shortly say here that science shows myriad benefits that are vital to the success of our children in Connecticut.

COVID has impacted everything. There is no denying that. It’s dangerous. I don’t dispute these facts. But I do, however, dispute the method by which all things are being controlled at the state level. The hockey community has followed every rule to stay on the ice, and yet still has been forced to close. The rink crew and the folks running our program have gone above and beyond in answering questions, fielding emails, explaining rules and then changing them to adapt to the ever-changing situation. At no point have they failed to follow a rule or a guideline. They have rigidly enforced rules even to the dismay of those trying to break them. They’ve done so in a better fashion than most of the businesses that I frequent… which suspiciously remain open.

There is no possible way that a kid can transmit a virus to another on the ice. They’re changing outside in car trunks and truck beds just for the chance to maintain the opportunity to play hockey. They all wear masks whether they feel it’s safe or not to engage in athletics with a face covering, they’re doing it because those are the rules. They don’t loiter around before or after their games. Their game has changed because of all these rules, but their determination has not. But you will break their spirit if you don’t let them resume play.

As a teacher and coach, I feel the state is letting them down. Why do they not matter? “We need to keep them safe.” I assure you that they are 100% safer on that ice following the procedures they’ve had in place than they are in Stop & Shop, or at local restaurants, or getting a haircut, or worse, going to school. They ride buses to school, attend daycare and go to after school holding locations. They can attend school, in classrooms where desks are not guaranteed the coveted six-foot distance and may or may not have been sanitized before they sat. They can attend dance and gymnastics classes, music lessons, yoga for their mindfulness, but they can’t play hockey? The inequity speaks for itself. Let them play.

From a hockey dad …

Think hard about what you are doing. I would hate to see anyone become ill for a few hockey games. Hopefully by spring / summer we would be in a better position to play. 

From a mom and teacher …

As a hockey mom to two lifelong hockey players (now 15 and 17), I am utterly disappointed that you would callously encourage hockey families to set aside public health and safety to be able to play. Our family loves hockey--but it is just a game. Luckily, my younger son will get to play again when the pandemic ends. Likely this is the end of our older son's hockey career.

The pause on youth sports is a minimum requirement given current pandemic conditions. I have seen the lack of care and attention to safety protocols by players, coaches, families, and facilities alike prior to the pause. As an educator required to be in an indoor space with hundreds of people daily, shutting down youth sports and indoor sports facilities is the very least we can do to protect the health and safety of our communities.  

Please rethink your campaign to restart sports while positivity rates, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to increase. 

From a former NHLer …

Unfortunately, I think we need to make a sacrifice here for the greater good so we can get this pandemic behind us.  This may be the only way to save our rink owners.

From a youth hockey coach …

I am a longtime hockey coach, player, and fan. You need to start thinking about what you should be doing. COVID-19 is rampant, and we are all needed to act responsibly. Your request for folks to protest and agitate at this time is not helpful in any way. Stop the whining and work on skills and conditioning as best you can. And hope that we get some good pond ice this winter!

From a hockey parent and health care worker …

Please don't continue hockey. Rules are not being followed by coaches, parents, staff and players.  Our association had several cases which included parents and players even some officials.  It is not safe; I agree kids need to get physical activity, but hockey is not safe especially with our current stats.

From a hockey dad …

This is embarrassing. Shutting down till January is obviously the right call.

From a hockey mom …

All my children have played hockey and I have one child who is directly impacted by the Governor's decision to put a pause on team sports. That child is also battling illness right now and I am very worried for her and for the rest of my family.

With this in mind, I am ashamed of your effort to put youth sports first in front of the health and safety of children and adults across the state. This deadly virus is spreading out of control, and unless everyone bands together and takes this seriously the death toll could skyrocket. 

With a promising vaccine only a few months away, it is incorrigible that you would try to pressure the state and its hockey playing and supporting members to allow sports to resume. I understand that businesses are hurting, and children are unhappy, but put things into perspective! Hockey can be played year-round, so why the push to resume now? Why not wait until this virus is under control?

I have been a hockey mom for the past 16 years and I have seen first-hand the love, caring and passion shown by my hockey family. I, as well as my children, have made wonderful friendships that extend off the ice. I have also seen the ugly side of the sport. Parents so crazed that the stands turn violent. The win at all costs mentality that encouraged unsportsmanlike violence on and off the ice. And while these parents were in the minority, I fear that these are the ones leading the charge to resume play. Why?

Instead of emailing hockey families to write the Governor to resume play, your organization should be encouraging safety and staying at home. I fear if your efforts are successful, the pressure from coaches will force all kids to join their teammates whether their parents think it's safe or not to do so.

In conclusions, I am deeply disappointed that your organization is putting the health and safety of its member families in jeopardy and selfishly promoting return to play.