The Dub goes for it
WHL has been cautious with return-to-play set to kick off Jan. 8 within divisions only
Three months until puck drop in the Dub.
With the Western Hockey League's board of governors deciding on a Jan. 8 start with games only within division, players, coaches and managers can see the light at the end of a very dark tunnel because of COVID health concerns.
But the train is far from barrelling down the tracks.
How many games the Edmonton Oil Kings play against Red Deer, Calgary, Medicine Hat and Lethbridge in the Central Division is still a question mark, but it's not going to be the current 68. It'll be a compressed schedule, with perhaps back-to-backs on the road if, say, general manager Kirt Hill's Oil Kings are travelling to Lethbridge or Medicine Hat — a long haul on the bus for an up-and-back one-gamer.
Forty games might be a fit, maybe as Craig Button, TSN'S draft guru says: “games from Thursday through Sunday … three games a week, for about 12 weeks, or a little more than that.”
The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League was up and running Oct. 2 with Quebec government funding and some fans in the building. But a COVID outbreak in Quebec has shut the league down until Oct. 28, except for five teams in the Maritimes: Halifax, P.E.I., Saint John, N.B., Cape Breton and Acadie-bathurst, N.B. The other team in the Maritimes, Moncton, suspended play because of local health protocols.
The Ontario Hockey League is supposed to start Dec. 1, but there's a possibility they open, same as the WHL, in January.
All of this makes it very tricky for Hockey Canada as officials try to pick a team with kids who might not be playing games before the world juniors, starting around Christmas at Rogers Place. But, maybe as an acquaintance of Button said, they'll gather 50 players to a camp in late November in Edmonton in a bubble situation, and cut from there.
As for WHL officials, they can start planning.
“Jan. 8 gives us a target, but there's still a lot to figure out from a government standpoint in terms of protocol. … COVID is so fluid, what's the environment going to look like then?” said
Hill, who knows the league needs fans in a ticket-driven league. “Everybody's chomping at the bit to get people into the buildings, but it has to do with the health authorities.”
“Don't know how many games we'll play yet, but maybe we could play into May,” said Bob Tory, GM of the Washington state-based Tri-city Americans, whose club will play Portland, Spokane, Seattle and Everett, Wash., only. “By playing in your own regions, it reduces the risk of problems but doesn't eliminate them, obviously. With us, we've got six health districts … and in Washington state they leave it up to the health authority in your county. There's a lot of moving parts with all these health districts.
“With all the teams, no matter where, it's whether we're allowed fans. If it's zero fans to start, then everybody's hoping after a month it's 25 per cent, then maybe 50 per cent, then 100 for the playoffs. That changes the dynamics than if they say no fans all season,” added Tory.
How many games the league plays is certainly up in the air.
“Kids can't play four games a week, that's just not practical,” said Hill.
“But you want enough credibility: can't be one game a week.
That doesn't help the development of the player. The number of games will probably come down to each province and what they say. Playing only Alberta teams for us, the travel's cut way down, a lot more day trips. Maybe we play Red Deer during the week, maybe a Tuesday night because of the situation with fans, something we don't normally do because they're a rival and we like them on weekends. And if we're going to Medicine Hat, we also go to Lethbridge, about six hours from us.
“We play the teams in our division 10 times a year now, maybe it's 12.”