Winnipeg Jets winger Andrew Copp is envious.

Edmonton Oilers defenceman Tyson Barrie, meanwhile, described the situation as “awesome” for the teams in question.

And Toronto Maple goalie Jack Campbell is simply glad to see life shifting back to normal – just not for NHL players in Canada.

The league eased some of its tight COVID-19 health and safety protocols over the weekend for clubs that have been fully vaccinated. But because of the decidedly slower rollout to get shots in arms north of the border, Canadian franchises won’t be enjoying the same freedoms as some of their U.S.-based counterparts any time soon.

“Very jealous,” said Copp, who was born and raised in Michigan. “If you look at my social media, Instagram and Twitter, I see my family and my friends living a normal life right now. Very jealous of that.

“Happy for the guys in the States that are playing hockey to be able to live their lives as much as possible.”

Barrie said even though teams in Canada are still bound by the same directives they’ve been adhering to since training camp – daily testing, physical distancing and limited contact with teammates outside the rink – that were beefed up further amid a rash of coronavirus outbreaks in February, the league’s move is a good sign.

“There’s a lot of teams down there that are vaccinated,” he said. “We’ve been in these protocols for a long time, so if it’s safe and everyone’s able to do it, then absolutely it’s an exciting time to be able to get back out there and support some businesses and try to get this thing back on track.”

The relaxing of NHL protocols announced Saturday takes effect once 85 per cent or more of a team’s travelling party has been fully vaccinated. The changes include loosened restrictions on indoor and outdoor dining, testing frequency, mask-wearing and quarantine requirements.

“It’s nice to see them doing some normal things,” said Campbell, who’s also from Michigan. “Whatever we’re able to do, we’re fortunate to have a great group. We have a lot of fun. We’ve done things the right way all season, but we still have fun in the right circumstances.

“Just fortunate to be healthy.”

All members of the Leafs were eligible to be vaccinated starting Sunday because the team’s practice facility is located in one of Ontario’s designated COVID-19 hot spots. The Montreal Canadiens, meanwhile, are expected to begin getting their shots Thursday after Quebec lowered age restrictions.

“There’s more and more shots readily available,” Toronto forward Jason Spezza added. “It shows signs of us healing as a community and getting closer to a return to normalcy.”

But only teams that have had a second dose will be deemed fully vaccinated in the eyes of the NHL, so players in Canada, where daily life remains far from normal due to wide-ranging restrictions, are still a long way from meeting for meals at restaurants or hanging out inside each other’s houses.

But despite the protocols remaining the same in the Canadian-based North Division – a one-time-only circuit created because of pandemic-related border restrictions – Montreal winger Paul Byron doesn’t take issue with U.S. teams having more freedoms with the playoffs just over the horizon.

“The rules are different, the government rules are different,” said Byron, the Canadiens’ NHL Players’ Association representative. “Life is just different for us. I don’t think it’s an unfair advantage or anything like that, it just is what it is.

“You’ve got to make the most of it.”

Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice added it would be pointless for players and coaches in the U.S. to continue with protocols like masking for no reason.

“In a perfect world we’d all be on the same circumstances,” he said.

Under the NHL’s new regulations, fully vaccinated individuals can dine outdoors or inside – in a private area with masked servers – visit a teammate or coach’s hotel room, play golf and have other social gatherings without masking or distancing requirements. Team staff also won’t have to quarantine for potential exposure or be subject to testing on off days.

Roughly one-third of Americans have been fully vaccinated compared to about three per cent in Canada.

“It’s the way the world is right now,” Oilers bench boss Dave Tippett said. “A lot of parts of the U.S. are wide open, and Canada is still closed down. You just have to deal with where you’re at.

“Hopefully as the (age) regulations of who gets vaccinated in Canada continues to go down … teams can catch up on that, but time will tell.”

The NHL was the last of the major four North American pro sports leagues to announce relaxed virus protocols for teams based on individual vaccination levels.

“I’m happy for the teams down south,” Copp said. “It’s been tough.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2021.

EDMONTON — An entire shed that had been more or less lost on Alberta’s prairies for three decades is found.

In recent years, the shed had served as a pig barn and then storage space on the Fentons’ farm in Lamont County east of Edmonton.

Gail and her husband had relocated it there in 1988, unaware of the building’s historical significance.

But when the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village recently sent a historian to look over a barn they were thinking about donating, the shed’s faded “CO” lettering caught his eye.

“He says, ‘You know this is one we’ve been looking for for years?'” Gail Fenton recalled.

Though the rest of the giant painted word had weathered away over the years, the building’s side once read “COAL,” visible from dozens of metres away.  

According to the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, the Lamont Alberta Lumber Company built the shed around 1920 when it began selling coal to make money in the winter.

The Alberta Lumber Company coal shed, as well as the United Grain Growers elevator and flour shed, is visible in the background of a photo of Ernest and Alvira Radke taken in 1936. (Courtesy: Friends of the Ukrainian Village Society)

Capable of holding 70 tonnes of coal, the shed was built by a local resident, Alec McQueen, alongside the railroad tracks near the United Grain Growers in Lamont.

“It’s almost like fitting a missing piece of a puzzle back together,” said Gordon Yaremchuk, executive director of the Friends of the Ukrainian Village Society.

The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, an outdoor museum 40 kilometres east of Edmonton on Highway 16, moved the Alberta Lumber Company’s main office and lumber shed in the 1980s. In the early 2000s, the company’s cement shed was added as well.

“This one sort of fell under the radar and it sort of disappeared,” Yaremchuk said.

That is, however, until it was reunited with its shed family Tuesday morning following a 30-kilometre move across Lamont County to the Ukrainian village.

Yaremchuk’s group is fundraising to pay for the $10,000 operation, as well as the shed’s restoration.

“The Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village portrays Alberta’s history and considering this one was a missing piece of a larger picture, the village is as of yet, not quite complete.”

“They have all the other buildings,” Fenton added.

“I think it’s going to bring so much more to the village once it’s open.”

The shed’s restoration timeline is dependent on its fundraising success.

CALGARY — Alberta’s justice minister and solicitor general is accusing conservative “opponents” — a group he says includes the media, provincial NDP and the federal Liberals — of wanting Alberta’s healthcare system to collapse during the pandemic.

Minister Kaycee Madu defined his stance in a series of Facebook comments added to his own May 8 post of a photo of his COVID-19 vaccination on his personal account as well as a May 6 post of George Clark, leader of the Albertans First Movement.

In a reply to another commenter who questioned the severity of COVID-19 on Clark’s post, Madu agreed that the majority of people who contract the virus will make a full recovery before arguing that everything must be done to prevent the potential death of any Albertan and potential overwhelming the province’s healthcare system.

“My point is that I don’t think it will be responsible to simply wait until we have a disaster on our hands,” said Madu in his post. “That’s what the NDP, the media and the federal Liberals were looking for and want. We simply couldn’t allow that to happen.

“While I hear the anger and disappointment of our people, I will continue to urge calm, patience and cooperation as we near the end of this pandemic. I ask that we don’t tear ourselves down and hand over Alberta to the NDP. We have done so before, and it did not go well for us, and in my view, we will be making a monumental mistake doing so again simply because conservatives disagree on the pandemic restrictions response.”

Madu reaffirmed his position after sharing his vaccine photo on social media. When a follower asked him to take steps to “restore peace” and “stop the path to conflict”, Madu declared his commitment to both the cause and to unity — before immediately drawing a line in the sand with his comments that followed.

“I urge calm, a little patience and unity to bring these pandemic and restrictions to end,” said Madu in the May 8 post. “Our opponents do not want these pandemic and restrictions to end. We cannot afford to fall into their trap.”

NDP Critic for Health David Shepherd and Critic for Justice Irfan Sabir condemned Madu’s comments in a joint statement released Monday.

“Madu’s comments are despicable, and he must apologize immediately,” said Shepherd. “Our Opposition Caucus has always called for more support for our frontline healthcare heroes, essential workers, and all the Albertans who have suffered immensely through this pandemic. Madu and his colleagues have ignored medical advice, fought a war with doctors, and threatened 11,000 frontline healthcare workers with layoffs.”

“It’s typical of the Kenney government to blame others for their tragic failure to keep our province safe,” added Sabir. “Madu’s senior officials directed police not to enforce public health orders, and he looked the other way for months while anti-maskers marched through the downtown cores of our major cities, putting thousands of people at risk. Now he wants to blame the media.

“Alberta journalists are Albertans, and they want to see this pandemic end as quickly and safely as all of us. Madu must personally apologize for these comments immediately.”

CTV News requested clarification from the minister and an interview regarding the Facebook comments. A spokesperson for the ministry issued a statement to CTV News Monday afternoon stating Madu stood behind his social media posts and would not be apologizing.

“The Minister was referring to the increasing tendency of different groups, including the NDP, to exploit the pandemic for their own political purposes. We see this every day with the NDP’s overcooked and incendiary rhetoric both in the legislative assembly and on social media. The Minister won’t apologize for stating the obvious.”

EDMONTON — Organizations and residents in St. Alberta continue to help residents affected by the massive fire Thursday evening at a retirement home in that community.

The blaze at Citadel Mews West left more than 100 people homeless.

READ MORE: 110 seniors homeless after fire causes ‘excessive damage’ to St. Albert retirement complex 

The City of St. Albert has partnered with the Canadian Red Cross to get donations to victims of the fire.

Local eyewear providers are offering free glasses and lenses to anyone who may have lost theirs in the fire.

Douglas Reinbold, a consultant with MDO Opticians, told CTV News Edmonton in an interview that he immediately wanted to help.

“When we saw the devastation of the fire we thought, what is it that we can we do to help out?”

“As a senior myself, the first thing I do in the morning is reach for my glasses,” he added. “We thought, oh my goodness, all of these people likely didn’t make it with their eyewear.”

MDO Opticians has been a local business for over 40 years in St. Albert and has helped dozens of people so far.

Reinbold said the entire optics community rallied to help seniors as FYI Doctors and Optiks International assisted in fitting seniors in new frames and lenses following the fire.

Affected seniors could also visit St. Albert Alliance Church Sunday to receive toiletries and gently used clothing, bedding, and shoes that had been donated.

Mike Sotski, a pastor at the church, said the church started collecting donations Friday and Saturday “non-stop.”

“We were overwhelmed,” Sotski said. “There was a continual stream of clothes coming in.”

The church anticipated that 20 to 25 seniors would drop by the church to collect some much-needed items. Sotski said some donated items were also taken to seniors who are being temporarily housed in other Christenson communities.

Sotski added that over $8,000 in cash and gift cards was also collected by the church that will be given to seniors in need.

“For us really it’s just about practically serving and loving our community,” he said. “We just want to give them some comfortable things.

“We are so grateful and thankful for the community response from St. Albert, Edmonton, and the Capital Region,” he added.

Jill Burt, corporate chaplain for Christenson Communities, said the donations are going a long way to support the displaced seniors.

“A lot of residents came out with just what they had on their backs,” she said. “We just are so grateful that the community at-large came together.” 

EDMONTON — A grass fire that burned approximately three hectares Saturday north of Fort McMurray is under investigation.

According to Wood Buffalo RCMP, at approximately 4:22 p.m. firefighters and police responded to a large grass fire moving towards the forested area on the southbound side of Highway 63 and north of the Parsons Creek overpass.

The fire was quickly contained, RCMP said in a press release sent Sunday.

Alberta Wildfire says the grass fire is currently under control and will be completely extinguished.

Mounties say that there were no injuries sustained and no property damage reported to them.

They add that while the cause of the fire is still under investigation, some witnesses spotted several off-road vehicles nearby indicating the grass fire may have started due to a combination of heat from the vehicles and the dry conditions.

The Fort McMurray area is currently under a fire advisory and officials ask residents to be mindful when discarding cigarette butts, operating off road vehicles, and keeping backyard fires under control.