DORIAN GEIGER
Sports Editor

The fall flu scare that has recently left everyone on edge has indirectly affected the domain of Huskie Athletics.

The Oct. 30 and 31 Canada West contests between the Huskies and Lethbridge Pronghorns women’s hockey teams that were expected to take place over the weekend were cancelled due to a quarter of the Pronghorns roster contracting flu-like symptoms.

The matches have been postponed until the new year when they have been rescheduled for Jan. 2 and 3. It is likely the Pronghorns have only contracted seasonal flu and not H1N1 but with intense paranoia surrounding H1N1, just the word flu is enough to make people squeamish these days.

Had the games been scheduled to be played in Saskatoon instead of Lethbridge, the postponement likely wouldn’t have occurred.

It’s not that the Pronghorns would have had a shortage of players — they could have travelled here without the sick players to compete against the Huskies but the games were scheduled to be played at the U of L where more than 300 students and staff have been placed on the flu registry.

“Looking at the whole picture you have to remember these kids are also students so it’s not just affecting hockey,” said Huskies women’s hockey coach Steve Kook.

“For us to go there and into a situation where there are 300 to 400 people that are ill, there is less control from our standpoint.”

Assistant Pronghorns coach Deb Marek also thinks it was essential for the game to be postponed to reduce the spread of the flu and prevent both teams from catching the virus.

“It was very important to postpone this series to ensure that our team members and our visitors were not further exposed to the flu-like symptoms that have been spreading through the community,” Marek told Huskie Athletics.

“We currently have six players and head coach Chandy Kaip away ill, and their health and well-being is critical.”

Though no reported cases of the flu have invaded the Saskatchewan locker room yet, the usual flu prevention measures are already in place to ensure the health of the Huskies women’s hockey line-up.

“I don’t think that we’re doing anything differently than what we normally do this time of year,” said Kook.

“We run into the flu season problem every year when there are 25 or 26 players combined altogether in the dressing room five nights out of the week. I don’t think we’re doing anything differently. We’re just making sure players are taking precautions, making sure the bottles are clean, using hand sanitizers and those sorts of things.”

Kook also noted that postponing games due to flu is a regular occurrence from time to time and that Waterloo, Windsor and York also postponed games over the weekend because of the virus.

The women’s Green and White hockey team, who have been on a hot streak and sit in second place in the Canada West, will get back to action when they host the Calgary Dinos Nov. 6 and 7 at Rutherford Rink.