NIPAWIN 鈥� Doug Johnson, head coach and general manager of the Nipawin Hawks, said he doesn鈥檛 regret a recent tweet he made on the team's account where he stated he would be taking the players to the 鈥渂ar and casinos鈥� since they remain open while the hockey season is cancelled.
The Nov. 26 post was shortly followed by another, an hour later, clarifying that the Tweet was sarcastic and they 鈥渙bviously aren鈥檛鈥� taking their players to bars or casinos.
The age of players in Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) teams range from 16 to 20 years old.
鈥淢yself, I don鈥檛 regret it. It鈥檚 getting a lot of publicity,鈥� Johnson said in an interview with the East Central Recorder.
鈥淲ith COVID, if we鈥檙e shut down that鈥檚 fine. I get it, I鈥檓 not going to question 小蓝视频 shut down 鈥� but how come some things are shut down and other things aren鈥檛?鈥�
He explained the first tweet was written by him and posted by someone else on his behalf, after the news broke about SJHL games 小蓝视频 cancelled until after Christmas.
Johnson said he feels the message laid out in the Tweet is self-explanatory, with bars and casinos allowed to continue to operate under provincial regulations while the hockey season is not.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 understand the reasoning behind that,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e had 27 kids that were absolutely devastated yesterday, and that鈥檚 just with Nipawin. I鈥檓 sure every player is devastated and nobody wants to go home, they want to continue playing.鈥�
Johnson said that when the restrictions were laid out the provincial government discussed the importance of mental health, which he believes the current regulations don鈥檛 align with.
鈥淎 bar or casino doesn鈥檛 really help anybody鈥檚 mental health, but it鈥檚 been proven sports, getting out and 小蓝视频 active, doing something you love and care about 鈥撀� that鈥檚 probably the best thing you can do for mental health.鈥�
Overall, Johnson said feedback from the Tweets has been positive.
鈥淚t has been good,鈥� he said. 鈥淥bviously some people are going to [complain], because some people always [complain] 鈥� but for the most part people around town are understanding and get where we鈥檙e coming from.鈥�
