All-canadian division could be scrapped
OTTAWA — The idea of an all-canadian division in the NHL this season might be finished.
That’s because the seven teams based north of the border may have to be moved to the United States to play the 2020-21 campaign.
League sources confirmed reports Thursday night that the NHL is studying the possibility of having the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks play out of the U.S. this season unless provincial health authorities agree to allow them to play in their home cites.
All seven Canadian teams were informed of the possibility during a call with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly Thursday afternoon.
While all seven teams and NHL officials are negotiating with governments in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia, none have been given the go-ahead officially to make that reality by health authorities. Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman reported the possibility of playing in hub cities in Toronto and Edmonton has been discussed, but ideally Canadian teams want to play in their own rinks.
The NHL and NHL Players’ Association are in negotiations for a 56-game schedule that’s tentatively scheduled to start on Jan. 13. Given this news, it looks like that date is going to be a long shot and it may be more realistic for the NHL to try to have a 48-game schedule that begins on Feb. 1.
Provincial health authorities are concerned with the rising cases of COVID-19 throughout the country and unless they’re on board the NHL’S seven teams won’t be allowed to play here.
Lisa Macleod, an Ottawa area MPP who’s the Ontario minister of heritage, sport, tourism and culture, told reporters Thursday she’s held talks with the officials from the Senators and Leafs.
“In terms of (the NHL’S) direct proposal, I believe I’m going to be briefed on that in the next day or so,” said MacLeod, who added she’d also be speaking with Steven Guilbault, the minister of heritage in the federal government, in the next day or so.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault told reporters Wednesday he believes the issues can be worked out.
“I think the stakes are more on the side of what concessions the players will make on their salaries,” Legault said in his daily briefing. “As far as health standards are concerned, we managed to do it this summer (with all teams in secure zones in Edmonton and Toronto), so I think it will be possible to do it from mid-january.”
If the Leafs, Senators, Habs, Flames, Oilers, Jets and Canucks aren’t able to get clearance then the idea of an all-canadian division will likely have to be scrapped.
However, don’t rule out the possibility of a non-nhl city in the U.S. offering up the opportunity to host all seven Canadian teams in one place if the league wants to go that route. No, it doesn’t make sense on the surface, but the NHL has already gone a long way in scheduling a Canadian division and it could be done in a U.S. hub format.
Nobody would be surprised if officials from Kansas City, Milwaukee, Austin, Texas and Orlando reached out to the league to offer up their buildings as possible destinations for the Canadian teams to play. The T-mobile Center in Kansas City can seat 17,000 for hockey and a small percentage of fans have been attending NFL games there.
All 31 teams would rather play in their own buildings so they can make a little bit of money from their sponsorship deals through rink board advertising.
Last summer, the province of Ontario was willing to allow the Toronto Blue Jays to host games without fans at the Rogers Centre, but the Canadian government was unwilling to waive the 14-day quarantine rules for teams coming from the United States. As a result, the Jays played their season based in Buffalo.
The same rules applied to the NBA’S Toronto Raptors and, as a result, they’ll play their 72-game season based out of the Amalie Arena in Tampa.
Naturally, league officials are still hopeful this can get worked out and that much was expressed in their calls with the Canadian teams Thursday. However, if some provinces aren’t willing to bend to allow this to happen, then it wouldn’t be a shock to see everybody based out of the United States so the NHL can have a meaningful season.
You have to think the provincial officials will find a way to get this resolved because the optics of seven Canadian teams having to house themselves in the U.S. just wouldn’t look good.
There’s no question this story leaking isn’t the worst news for the NHL because there’s going to be tremendous public pressure in all five provinces where Canadian teams play to get a deal in place to allow them to play in their home cities or, at the very least, in hubs in Canada.
Otherwise, it’s going to be a long winter and whether the teams can sell tickets or not there’s going to be an economic impact in the marketplaces where the Canadian teams are housed if they can’t play in their own buildings at some point this season.
A country will be waiting with bated breath to see the outcome of this negotiation between the NHL and the provincial officials.