Teams await word on fans in the stands
Sens, Leafs waiting on word from province with only two months to go until puck drops
Two months from today, the Toronto Maple Leafs will host the Montreal Canadiens in their season opener at Scotiabank Arena and it's anybody's guess how many fans will be in the 19,800seat building.
The next night, the Leafs will travel to the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa to take on the Senators in their home opener on Oct. 14. Again, nobody knows how many of the 18,153 seats will be sold.
We're at the point where time is of the essence for both organizations, and they're not alone on the hockey front in Ontario.
It's believed the stakeholders have held more talks this week to see where things stand.
Look, there's no reason to believe that both buildings won't be full, with many of the vaccination thresholds already met to allow for indoor seating at ticketed events, but it's difficult for the NHL's two Ontario-based teams to put single-game tickets on sale if they aren't sure they'll be allowed to sell them.
Lisa MacLeod, the minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, has been good about staying in touch with representatives of all the organizations in the province to make sure they're kept up to date on what the chief medical officer of Ontario is recommending for their return to play with fans.
While the CFL's Ottawa Redblacks, Toronto Argos and Hamilton Tiger-Cats will all have capacity limits of 15,000 people at their respective outdoor stadiums, the Senators and Leafs are waiting with bated breath to find out just how many people will be allowed inside their buildings.
Senators owner Eugene
Melnyk, president of business operations Anthony LeBlanc, and representatives of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment — which also owns the NBA's Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC and the CFL's Argos — need to find out what the landscape will look like when the season gets underway.
Officials with the Ontario Hockey League, a gate-driven league with 17 of 20 team based in the province, must be wondering what kind of capacity they'll be allowed. The Senators and Leafs both own their American Hockey League affiliates (the Belleville Sens and Toronto Marlies), so they want to know how many fans they can have, as well.
No, you can't throw caution to the wind, but we already know in Alberta the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers will be playing in front of full houses because there are zero restrictions there.
The Canadiens had limited capacity in the playoffs. However, the expectation is the Bell Centre will be close to capacity when next season begins.
Vancouver is in a tough spot with cases on the rise in B.C.
The Winnipeg Jets announced late Wednesday they've been given the green light by the province of Manitoba to fill the rink with 16,345 fans next season. However, it comes with the proviso that fans admitted are fully vaccinated.
“We have recently surveyed a selection of our customers and the majority of respondents told us they would only feel comfortable attending games if we required proof of full vaccination,” the club said in a statement. “Furthermore, approximately 70 per cent of guests felt it was important that staff and guests be required to wear masks at games or events.”
The issue is the threat of a fourth wave around the corner. The Delta variant has COVID-19 case numbers on the rise across the country, especially among those who have chosen not to get their jab.
Sure, there needs to flexibility, but you have to have guidelines to work with, as well, and at some point, Ontario Premier Doug Ford will have to announce when we're going to return to normal operations in this province.
The Leafs and Senators will open training camp on Sept. 22 and will play exhibition games in their own rinks just a few days later. If you read the rules for Stage 3 of Ontario's reopening plan, it appears that, if the season started tomorrow, the Leafs and Senators would be limited to a crowd of 1,000 people.
Of course, we all know that's not going to be the case, but sooner or later, there does need to be a hard and fast number attached, especially with full vaccination stats in Canada hovering at the 70 per cent mark. For example, if the Leafs, Senators and Raptors are to start the season with 50 per cent capacity, they have the right to know that now.
There hasn't been any public discussion about limiting ticket sales here to fully vaccinated buyers and it's not known if teams in Ontario will be asked to go that route, though it does make sense.
If the requirement is for ticket holders to be fully vaccinated, that's not an unreasonable request. We've also seen it with the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers and that's a big reason why the Jets followed suit.
Only two months until next season and still many questions remain unanswered for Ontario's two NHL teams.