True North Sports and Entertainment will compensate part-time and casual workers who lost shifts with the NHL suspended as a result of the coronavirus.

"As a follow up to yesterday's communication, we wish to share with you today, that regardless of whether we resume play in either the NHL or AHL, True North casual and part-time employees will be paid in full for remaining Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose home games through the end of March 31 - as though the games occurred," the company said in a statement, according to The Athletic's Murat Ates.

The company has reversed course after initially stating it would not support its workers who lost shifts as a result of the hiatus.

"They work when we work," Jets chairman Mark Chipman said Thursday, according to the Winnipeg Sun's Paul Friesen. "So, regrettably, to the extent that we're not putting on shows and games, those people obviously would not have a call to work."

Calgary Sports and Entertainment also announced a compensation program on Sunday for part-time workers after reportedly saying they would not pay employees.

Several other teams, athletes, coaches, and executives around the NHL have pledged to support workers who have lost shifts due to the stoppage in play.

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Calgary Sports and Entertainment have announced an income bridge support program for part-time employees who lost shifts with the NHL suspended due to growing concerns over the coronavirus.

"This program will provide part time employees who are affected by this temporary halt in our operations and are applying for and are eligible to receive Employment Insurance (EI) benefits to receive a top up payment from CSEC, which will provide an overall benefit of up to 95% of your regular average insurable earnings (which is the maximum allowable by Service Canada), to the conclusion of the Flames regular season," the company said in a statement Sunday.

"If you are not eligible to receive EI benefits due to not working sufficient hours you will receive the equivalent CSEC top up portion," the company added.

Last week, CSEC reportedly released a statement saying that employees would be paid for their March 12 shifts because the notice of cancelation was less than 24 hours prior to the cancelation. The company added that no payments will be made for shifts canceled with more than 24 hours notice.

Raymond Lau, a former hourly employee and a longtime season-ticket holder, started a GoFundMe page on Saturday after learning that CSEC would not be compensating workers who lost shifts. In response, several Flames players pitched in on the fundraiser.

Lau said if the company ends up deciding to pay its workers, the money raised will be donated to the Flames Foundation, to a local charity, or it will be used in a way that still benefits the hourly and event staff. The campaign began with a target goal of $10,000 and over $62,000 has been raised as of Sunday.

Several other teams and players around the league have made efforts to compensate part-time workers who have been impacted by the hiatus.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Calgary Sports and Entertainment have announced an income bridge support program for part-time employees who lost shifts with the NHL suspended due to growing concerns over the coronavirus.

"This program will provide part time employees who are affected by this temporary halt in our operations and are applying for and are eligible to receive Employment Insurance (EI) benefits to receive a top up payment from CSEC, which will provide an overall benefit of up to 95% of your regular average insurable earnings (which is the maximum allowable by Service Canada), to the conclusion of the Flames regular season," the company said in a statement Sunday.

"If you are not eligible to receive EI benefits due to not working sufficient hours you will receive the equivalent CSEC top up portion," the company added.

Last week, CSEC reportedly released a statement saying that employees would be paid for their March 12 shifts because the notice of cancelation was less than 24 hours prior to the cancelation. The company added that no payments will be made for shifts canceled with more than 24 hours notice.

Raymond Lau, a former hourly employee and a longtime season-ticket holder, started a GoFundMe page on Saturday after learning that CSEC would not be compensating workers who lost shifts. In response, several Flames players pitched in on the fundraiser.

Lau said if the company ends up deciding to pay its workers, the money raised will be donated to the Flames Foundation, to a local charity, or it will be used in a way that still benefits the hourly and event staff. The campaign began with a target goal of $10,000 and over $62,000 has been raised as of Sunday.

Several other teams and players around the league have made efforts to compensate part-time workers who have been impacted by the hiatus.

Copyright © 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

A woman recently came to Kristian Hufsky's door speaking little English.

Normally, that's OK. Hufsky, a 20-year-old Canadian goalie playing professional hockey in northern Germany, often gets by understanding only parts of what he's told. This time, however, he felt slightly self-conscious.

The woman, a health official laying out quarantine guidelines to Hufsky amid the coronavirus pandemic, had issued him a surreal warning: Leaving his apartment in the near future could result in a substantial fine or even jail time.

"That scared me a little bit," Hufsky said over the phone Saturday, his sixth straight day in isolation.

The Vaughan, Ontario, native impressed in his first year as a pro, posting a .917 save percentage and 1.99 goals-against average in 18 Oberliga Nord games for the Hannover Indians. His efforts helped Hannover to the fourth-best record in Germany's third-tier league before play abruptly ended.

Like virtually every sports league on the planet, Oberliga Nord canceled its entire playoffs last week in an effort to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Hannover announced three players were tested for the virus after recently showing symptoms, with one test coming back positive. Members of the organization are now in the middle of a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

"If I get the symptoms I just have to call the doctor and they'll come here," said Hufsky, who's filling his waking hours chatting with family and friends, lounging on his balcony, browsing YouTube, and mashing buttons on his PS4 controller. "Sometimes I get a little paranoid about it, but I'm trying to keep positive and not really think about it too much. I think I'll be fine."

Hufsky is among dozens of North Americans who make a living playing hockey in Europe, a hotbed for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Each player's particular circumstances - team location, season timeline, travel capability - have presented unique challenges. Most have avoided quarantine, yet life's become complicated for everyone involved, especially given the distance between their professional and personal homes.

Eric Faille, a former AHL forward now playing for EHC Kloten in Switzerland's second-tier league, returned to Moncton, New Brunswick, late Friday following a "pretty hectic" two weeks. Early in the process, somebody in Kloten's players-only phone group chat shared an interactive map detailing the virus' presence in Switzerland. And, over a quick few days, Faille watched as the number of positive cases ballooned.

"When it started in China, everybody thought, 'Ah, it's never going to come over to us.' We all kept going. Then it went to Italy and kept growing and growing. And then the northern part of Italy was getting pretty bad, and that's close to us," Faille recalled during a layover in Toronto. "So everybody started washing their hands more often. We got hand sanitizers everywhere in the (team locker) room. No more shaking hands, only fist bumps. Little changes like that. Minor stuff, but it was now in the back of your mind."

Kloten, the league's best regular-season team and a threat to earn a promotion to Switzerland's top tier, played the first four playoff games in front of regular-sized crowds. The fifth game, which they won over the GCK Lions to advance to the second round, featured only immediate family in the stands. Local health officials had begun banning large gatherings. The party atmosphere, a trademark of European hockey, was suddenly gone.

A few days later, as Kloten awaited the announcement from the Swiss hockey federation whether competition would be suspended or canceled, they hooked up with HC Lugano, a top-tier squad based three hours away, for a spirited scrimmage. "They knew and we knew that the seasons were over. At the faceoff circle, when I was taking draws, I was like, 'C'mon, at least let me win one here. These are the last faceoffs of the year!'" Faille joked.

Former NHL forward Daniel Winnik is grappling with this strange new world, too.

Winnik has been starring in Switzerland's top circuit, National League A, for the past two years. An alternate captain for Geneve-Servette HC, he led the club in scoring in 2019-20 with 44 points in 49 regular-season matches. Sitting just two points shy of first place in the final standings, he felt they had a legitimate shot at giving the city of Geneva its first-ever NLA title.

After acknowledging the importance of shuttering sports in the name of public health, Winnik noted in an interview Saturday that, at 35 years old, he doesn't know how many other opportunities he'll have to win it all. "I never got the chance to win one in the NHL - win a Stanley Cup - so winning a championship here would have meant a lot," he said.

Winnik, who played 798 NHL games split between the Coyotes, Avalanche, Sharks, Ducks, Maple Leafs, Penguins, Capitals, and Wild, has another year on his NLA contract. He'll be back in Geneva for training camp alongside most of his teammates for another chance at that title.

In the short term, Winnik's in a holding pattern. He's been trying to get back to Canada with his English bulldog but is experiencing issues booking a flight with a dog in tow. Josh Jooris, another ex-NHLer and dog owner playing in the NLA, is in the same boat. "We're both shit out of luck," Winnik said dryly.

Meanwhile, some 1,600 kilometers northeast of Geneva, in the Swedish city of Vaxjo, Lucas Edmonds ponders his next move. He doesn't have an abundance of options; the Vaxjo Lakers' season is over, but Sweden's prime minister has urged against nonessential travel amid the virus outbreak.

"Hopefully the Canadian border doesn't close before I want to go back," Edmonds, 19, said with a nervous laugh Friday.

Edmonds is a dual citizen from North Bay, Ontario, but spends only his summers in Canada. He's plied his trade in the Swedish hockey system for the past four seasons. Still a junior, he won't be missing out on playoff bonuses like Faille and Winnik. Regardless, the news isn't easy to process.

"If I'm being honest, it hasn't really hit me yet that the entire season is over," he said. "It feels right now like we just have an off weekend and the playoffs start next week. It's definitely a strange feeling."

Edmonds is under contract with Vaxjo through the 2020-21 season. He'll turn pro next year, but some of his teammates' futures aren't so concrete. A long playoff run could have become a showcase to managers and scouts from Sweden and beyond. That opportunity, of course, is now nonexistent.

In response, the Lakers' Under-20 team is doing this weekend what teenagers do best: They're hanging out - one last hoorah before everyone goes their separate ways. "We've been going hard for this whole (season). Time to take it easy," Edmonds said of the unofficial send-off.

At the other end of the spectrum are members of the KHL's Kunlun Red Star, the only high-profile pro hockey team based in China. Months ago, they wrapped their heads around the scope of the virus and its potential impact on not only their own lives but the lives of loved ones and strangers.

"They tested us and everyone came back negative. That was a blessing. We were lucky," goalie Jeremy Smith said from his Birmingham, Michigan, home.

Kunlun failed to make the KHL playoffs - one of the rare sporting events still in progress, albeit in empty rinks - which in late February ended Smith's first season overseas after 10 years of NHL, AHL, and ECHL duty. Red Star had spent roughly 30 nights straight on the road in Russia due to the virus outbreak. Smith and his fiancee flew back to the U.S. separately, leaving some of their belongings in the Beijing hotel they occupied during their Asian adventure. He has one campaign remaining on a two-year deal, though the team's home base next season remains up in the air due to the uncertainty in China.

Smith eloquently contextualized what's happening around the globe in a few sharp sentences.

"People use sports as an escape of some sort," the 2007 Nashville Predators second-rounder said. "I hope that sports can get back to its norm and do what it does best, which is providing a platform for people to be entertained."

Then again, Smith continued, "Life is bigger than just sports. People are looking at the big picture (with the cancellations), which is a good thing. Hopefully, as a human race, we're able to come together and beat this virus."

John Matisz is theScore's national hockey writer.

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The NHL season remains on pause, but that isn't stopping teams from making moves.

The Anaheim Ducks placed forward Kiefer Sherwood on waivers Sunday, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Sherwood, a 24-year-old right-winger, collected a lone assist across 10 games with the Ducks in 2019-20 before the league postponed its campaign as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

Anaheim called him up Feb. 23 after he racked up 16 goals in 37 games for the club's AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.

Sherwood collected six goals and 12 points in 50 contests for the Ducks in 2018-19.

Anaheim signed him to a two-year, entry-level contract out of Miami (Ohio) in March 2018.

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The second-biggest professional hockey league in the world defended its decision to continue operating after one of its best teams withdrew from the playoffs amid concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

"KHL, as a major international sports league, is acutely aware of its responsibility to fans, teams, and staff, and is closely monitoring the situation as it develops and will strictly comply with instructions from state authorities in all participating countries of the championship when it comes to protecting public health," the league said in a statement Saturday night.

"The (COVID-19) pandemic is a rapidly evolving situation, and in this regard, KHL is in consultation with clubs and all relevant authorities to diligently manage the impact of this matter."

Finland-based team Jokerit Helsinki pulled out of the KHL's Gagarin Cup playoffs Saturday, citing the country's guidelines that are intended to combat the outbreak. The club was scheduled to play SKA St. Petersburg in the second round beginning Tuesday.

Last week, Moscow implemented a ban on gatherings of 5,000 or more people, but KHL teams based in the city have continued playing. Dynamo Moscow defeated Spartak Moscow in their first-round series, and Dynamo is now set to face CSKA - a team that also hails from Russia's capital - in Round 2.

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A Calgary Flames fan is raising money for hourly and event staff at the Scotiabank Saddledome whom the team's ownership group won't be compensating during the hiatus resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

Raymond Lau, a longtime season-ticket holder and former hourly employee at the arena, started a GoFundMe on Saturday night after learning that Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation was choosing not to pay relevant workers for the lost shifts.

Several Flames players, including captain Mark Giordano, Sean Monahan, Milan Lucic, Sam Bennett, and Zac Rinaldo have donated to the effort, as have some of the players' partners, including Lauren Giordano and Amber Brodie.

The campaign began with a goal of $10,000 but raised more than $38,000 overnight.

All of the proceeds will go toward the arena employees affected by the shutdown. Lau said if CSEC reverses course and decides to pay them, the money will be donated to the Flames Foundation, to a local charity, or it will be used in a way that still benefits the hourly and event staff.

The Flames ownership group sent an email to the workers explaining that unless otherwise notified, all scheduled shifts were canceled, and any shifts from March 13 onward must be approved by a supervisor.

Many NHL owners and several players have said they will help out their arena workers to account for postponed or canceled shifts.

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