Trudeau OK with NHL playoffs in Canada
PM supports Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto as hub centres if local health authorities agree
Credit Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with an assist.
But who has he really set up to score an NHL hub city goal?
Trudeau said Tuesday that the federal government supports Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto’s efforts to be one of two hub cities for resumption of the season paused March 12 by the COVID-19 pandemic — as long as it’s approved by provincial health authorities.
“We have indicated that we are comfortable with moving forward on an NHL hub in one of the three Canadian cities that are asking for it,” said Trudeau. “Obviously the decision has to be made by the NHL and the cities and the provinces in the jurisdiction, but Canada is open to it as long as it is OK’d by the local health authorities.”
That’s not going to be a problem in B.C.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has become a champion of planning to crush the positive-test curve for the coronavirus and is relentless in her pursuit of the populace abiding by safety measures. On Tuesday, B.C. reported 11 new cases and of 2,756 confirmed cases, 940 are in the Vancouver Coastal Health Region. Alberta has 7,453 confirmed cases but just 714 in the Edmonton region.
Last week, Henry and Premier John Horgan championed an amendment proposal to the mandatory 14-day quarantine period required when re-entering Canada from abroad — known as the cohort quarantine — to help boost the Vancouver Canucks’ bid.
“The proposal for the hub city model has gone to the NHL and it’s at the point now where my response to review the protocols was to confirm that it exceeded our requirements to ensuring we had absolutely protected our communities and that the measures they were proposing were considerably above our requirements for preventing any risk to our community,” Henry said Tuesday.
In an earlier statement, Henry saw merit in the cohort concept first explored in Alberta last month.
“I do see how we could potentially have small numbers of people cohorting together in self-isolation, for example in a hotel, and management monitored regularly,” she added. “And I know if anybody could do that then the NHL is probably set up to do it. I can see how we could have something like that work in British Columbia as well.”
Canada’s conscious COVID-19 effort hasn’t gone unnoticed by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman.
“The National Hockey League appreciates the significant effort that the Government of Canada put in to reviewing this matter and satisfying itself that the league protocol and processes for Return To Play were thorough, well thought out, and most importantly, focused on the health and safety of all concerned,” he said.
“The league will continue to work with the respective provincial governments and health authorities.”
In theory, the Canucks could gather here at the outset of training camp July 10 and be housed in a hotel for the first two weeks of camp to meet the COVID-19 quarantine edict. They could then relocate to Nevada to play exhibition games before facing the Minnesota Wild in the best-of-five qualifying round series — if Las Vegas is named a hub. The announcement is expected Monday.
Canucks general manager Jim Benning said he prefers to have camp in Vancouver, but will look at U.S. sites.
“We’ve talked about some scenarios and we have a plan in place, but I’m not going to start acting on it,” said Benning. “It’s too early and we’re looking at different things.”
If Vancouver became a hub city, teams arriving could abide by the amended 14-day quarantine period by holding camps in the Lower Mainland. That would get them to the playdown stage and there’s certainly the infrastructure here to satisfy arena and hotel requirements.
The problem for Vancouver will be geographical hub city preference.
If the home-ice advantage argument is dismissed, Las Vegas and Toronto are favoured to host 12-team west and east conference playdowns, respectively.
Las Vegas has already secured two gambling-free hotels — Vdara and Delano — owned by MGM Resorts International. The state is crediting an uptick of 100 new COVID19 cases Monday to increased testing. Nevada has had 11,279 confirmed cases.
As for Toronto, the league has already stated its preference for a Canadian hub city because of the game’s popularity and a currency break for competing U.S. clubs.
Toronto houses broadcast partner Sportsnet, there are hotels and restaurants attached to the Scotiabank Arena complex via an underground walkway, and multiple arena options. The NHL Players’ Association also has a say in where its members prefer to play and many are from the Toronto area.
As for COVID-19 concerns, Ontario health officials reported 184 new cases Tuesday. Toronto has the largest regional case count at 1,034 and it has slowed a move to Phase 2 of the economy reopening. There have been 32,554 confirmed cases in the province.