December 25: The five Canadian provinces and the federal government have officially given the NHL the green light to go ahead with their plans for the upcoming season, reports TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie. No adjustments or delays in the schedule will be required.
December 24: The NHL has seemingly made agreements with each province to allow the Canadian teams to stay north of the border for the upcoming season. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic the following:
On the basis of our discussions in the past week, as well as our exchange of correspondence over the last 24 hours, we believe we are aligned and in agreement on the conditions on which each of our Canadian franchises can begin play in their own buildings for the start of the 2020-21 NHL season.
Darren Dreger of TSN meanwhile reports that both the league and the NHLPA will accept additional testing if necessary and will use certain players for public service announcements. The league will not need to change any of the schedule that was released yesterday, according to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet.
December 17: Though there seems to be some momentum towards an NHL season, a new obstacle may get in the way. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet is reporting that if the league cannot make agreements with each of the five Canadian provinces that house NHL teams, there is a possibility of moving all of them south of the border for a shortened season and holding every game in the United States. Frank Seravalli of TSN has heard the same thing. The league could be floating the idea, perhaps in an attempt to put pressure on the provincial governments.
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that if the seven Canadian teams do have to move their operations to the U.S., there would no longer be an All-Canadian division, and more realignment would be required.
Other sports have already experienced a situation like this. In the summer, the Toronto Blue Jays were not allowed to play home games in Canada, meaning they had to move to Buffalo for their shortened season. The NBA’s Toronto Raptors are preparing to start their season in Tampa after moving their entire training camp and preseason south.
Obviously, the difference is that those teams, the Blue Jays and Raptors, are the sole Canadian teams in each of their respective leagues. They had no one to play that wouldn’t have to cross the U.S.-Canada border, meaning a regular season made little sense. In the NHL’s plan, the seven Canadian teams would only play each other, reducing the need to cross the federal border altogether.
That doesn’t mean it would limit travel all that much though, as those seven teams still stretch across most of the country and would need to be moving large groups of people across provincial borders. That isn’t ideal, and as Public Health Agency of Canada spokesperson Andre Gagnon told Johnston, “the resumption of sports events in Canada must be undertaken in adherence to Canada’s measures to mitigate the importation and spread of COVID-19.”
If they do need to move to the U.S. there will likely be several markets willing to welcome them in, though moving seven franchises all at once is a lot different than finding a home for the Blue Jays (which was already difficult enough). Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia tweets that Kansas City, Milwaukee, Austin, and Orlando could be potential hosts, though speculation on that front could be endless at this point.
Anyone sick and tired of Trudeau and his totalitarian policies yet? This guy is killing our country…
You should move down here. We have a bunch of governors who aren’t worried about trivial totalitarian things like whether you live or not or cause the death of others, etc. You’d be much happier.
each state is run by their very pwn demagogue. D or R, they all seem to think they wield supreme power in their respective states.
I wish i lived in one of those states instead of Pennsylvania with Wolfey and the Beast
@DarkSide….Canada is similar, each Province has it’s own leadership and generally is free to choose their own path (ie. restrictions or whatever) and Ottawa (Federal Government) would only step in if/when the situation necessitates the need
You mean Coumo right who placed patients in nursing homes thus killing thousands? Trust me there’s a common theme with these lunatics governing us.
SN590 in Toronto said that they’re hearing that players from Canadian teams want NO part of playing a way from there family’s and will vote NO to play(home games) in the US
This was literally in the first month after the federal government suppressed reports of the severity of it in China ans europe to keep the markets hot. Why is a governor having to respond to a pandemic without guidance?
Dude this has nothing to do with PM Trudeau. Go start with the stupid CON premiers.
Everything is lined up for a 2021-2022 season to start on time and in full.
Just do whatever it takes to fake a 2021 regular season, have a full Stanley Cup playoffs (use the 24 team system again if need be) and get this season in the books, one way or another.
Then, start clean in the fall.
I find the decisions of a large portion of Canadians who blatantly ignore the recommendations of the Government tiresome…it’s inevitable my children are about to be forced back into home schooling, and my wife (who is an essential worker) will again be exposed to risks that shouldn’t even be an issue if people these days had even the slightest ability to think of others instead of only themselves.
It’s no better in the US.
I’m not as concerned with people thinking ABOUT themselves as I am thinking FOR themselves. It’s scary to me how many people just roll over and accept direction when the facts and data clearly indicate how irrelevant and unnecessary it all is. I don’t want to turn this into a political/medical debate…I’m just really disappointed that we may lose hockey in Canada altogether over this. Not sure where you live, but where I live my kids are already forced into online learning and outdoor rinks are closed (because Covid is much more dangerous outside than it is in Wal-Mart!)
@HockeyDude77 talking all kinds of common sense. I wish I had a way to like or upvote that reply.
“It’s scary to me how many people just roll over and accept direction when the facts and data clearly indicate how irrelevant and unnecessary it all is.”
It’s scary to you that people accept medical advice from doctors and scientists? You’d feel better if they got their medical advice from TV hosts or random people on Facebook, I guess.
300,000 dead here. A 9/11 and then some each day. I wonder how many freezer trucks full of body bags it would take to be relevant.
Meanwhile, the NHL has already proven that this can be done well if people are smart and take it seriously. The 2020 playoffs were great and had zero cases.
“…talking all kinds of common sense. I wish I had a way to like or upvote that reply.”
That would be a common sense way to show your agreement and/or support if only you had a way to like or upvote that reply.
Alas.
@HockeyDude77 We could go in circles debating our stances, I’m not looking to go off on a political rant either. Some restrictions have worked, some haven’t…it is what it is. I’m not sure it’s a simple as blame Trudeau, none of us know what’s really going on but to me, he’s followed the guidelines Health Canada has layed out and for him. I’m not even sure pro sports should bother this year, it just doesn’t feel legit, the NFL has been a joke….when Denver was forced to play with no active QB’s on the roster, I gave up. Here’s hoping everyone’s lives get back to normal soon!
Do they ignore the guidelines because they have businesses to support in Canada which is their livelihoods? Just wondering because we all need to go back to living rather then depending on the government and the leaders who continue to defy their own orders.
606,520 cancer deaths in the US so far this year…and that’s year after year after year. And cancer doesn’t have a 99% survival rate!
Seems to me we should be banning fast food, processed foods, plastics and the myriad of other carcinogenic items we use everyday if we took the same approach as Covid.
As for the medical advice? If you care to investigate, you can find a plethora of information and interviews online from well respected medical experts who feel this is completely overblown and out of control with far more dangerous effects coming from the way we’ve responded to the virus than actually FROM the virus. These experts have no ties to government and, I’m willing to bet, aren’t being paid off by big pharma.
Big Pharma, you ask? We’re rolling out experimental vaccines that haven’t been properly tested…that the government holds no liability for…for a virus with a 99% survival rate? In my view the only kind of “medical expert” who could possibly support that is one with something to gain.
ty. people talk about don’t control me but it’s really not asking a lot to think of others to get the numbers lower
Can you catch cancer from sitting beside a coworker if they have it? that’s a ridiculous comparison. it’s stupid comparisons like this which gullible morons buy into. As for the Medical advice, again provide real proof or shut up. I’m tried of this if you do your own research nonsense. Many l, many people have and it contradicts this lunacy.
Being skeptical is not the same as facts, yet unfortunately those lines because more blurred by people everyday.
don’t get me wrong, cancer is a serious issue, and certainly more life threatening. but contagiousness needs to be factored in.
Here’s an example for ya, Big Fella…
link to westernstandardonline.com
Have a read over that. I have more I can provide for you if required.
In my view, morbidity is a much greater factor than contagiousness. Correct, you can’t catch cancer from sitting next to someone…but you can’t catch Covid from eating processed food, either, so I’m not sure what your point is? Who cares if it’s contagious if it’s not a risk to 99% of the population? My point is that the data and facts say that cancer is much deadlier than Covid, yet we just accept it and live our lives rather than shut the world down.
And I always find it interesting how people such as yourself get so emotional and tell people like me to “shut up” for not buying into the narrative that you cling to. It’s that emotional connection the messaging relies on, so take a chill pill, have a read, and think for yourself for a few mins. If you still feel the same way, we can agree to disagree…I’ll respect your opinion and refrain from snapping on you like you did me!
Dude your ideas are horrible. You’re confusing novelty of thought with being a good logical thought. It’s not.
Cancer isn’t a contagious disease it’s also cumulative. COVID effects different bodies in different ways. It’d be like if 30 in every 100 Big Macs got you extremely ill and caused long term damage and the. 2 in that 100 killed you. But there was little patterns as to who got the death macs.
Then you go argue the other side about how we should not do the vaccine route because it untested, while having no problem with making sweeping decisions on a virus that has almost no long term understanding or data. “Not enoguh data” can’t be argued both ways.
Can you provide me with a list of new viruses (we experience them every year) that we have long term understanding and data on? To my knowledge we don’t have long term data and understanding on any new viruses, but this is the first one we’ve shut the world down for.
Also, change your Big Mac example to smoking (and increase your death rate) and give that some thought. Based on your example we should’ve banned smoking long ago, no?
death as the only measuring stick is the problem. we have seen multiple people with longer lasting effects already. myocarditis, loss of taste or smell, permanently damaged lungs. Saying only a small amount died basically is a Trump administration approach to humans.
As for processed meats, again I have a choice not to eat, I don’t have a choice if I go to a store, work, etc. of avoiding someone I don’t know has it.
This virus is unprecedented in its spread and observed effect. Id ask you to show me a viruses as deadly and fast spreading since we began keeping records.
As far as the big mac, example that is wrong again. Smoking is characterized by a cumulative damage. It would be more apt to say that some cigarettes instantly gave you cancer or the conditions for cancer. It would actually be worse, it would include second-hand cigarette smoke as causing the same effects.
Again, your arguments contain a ton of fallacy while also demanding logical structure from the counterposition. I understand your passion, but I implore you to ask why you believe so deeply in the anti-scientific ideas of the other side? Is it the distrust of government? The idea that you dont identify with those passionat about erring on the side of protection? Is it that the system has been unfair to you?
Im dead serious, you seem interested in engaging, but not so interested in reflecting on your own points.
I wonder if they might consider a temporary rename of the teams.
Texan Oilers
California Flames (too tempting)
District of Columbia Senators.
Maine Maple Leafs.
Seattle Canucks. (test out the Kraken facilities)
Nevada Jets (area 51) or Fort Bragg Jets.
Hawaii Canadiens (an ecosystem so not-Canadian) or Alaska Canadiens (cuz it is so Canadian)
Not sure I get it. Homosxual population is almost exactly the same in every state and country in the world (as a function of consumption of homosxual porno).
I couldn’t wrap my brain around your reply but I think maybe your association is with the California Flames?
I’m thinking wildfires, of which they have a lot.
Does Atlanta no longer have their facilities?? I feel like Atlanta could be a good city for at least one team
Armchair doctors are the best…..clueless….
Swine flu or h1n1 had a comparable rate of infection before it got burried. The rates of other infections also didnt get burried during those infections. The common flu rate in Canada kept close to its rate during that season. Meanwhile the common flu has dropped to about 25 people this year compared to 1600 a common year.
I dont think covid is fake,,,, but its being overblown.
Bubble the CDN clubs.
Canada will never give up its hockey. they’ll impeach Trudeau otherwise
I hate how this is printed. Top of the article should start with December 17th, who the hell reads the future first ♂️
its an update. most people already read the prior updates.