Ontario’s sport minister says NHL talks ongoing
TORONTO
The NHL released its schedule for the 2020-21 season Wednesday, but Ontario’s minister of sport said discussions are still ongoing about how the allCanadian North division will operate.
Ontario is scheduled to enter a province-wide lockdown on Saturday that will last for 28 days in its most heavily populated regions. The NHL had previously announced that its new season will start on Jan. 13, 10 days before the lockdown is scheduled to lift in Toronto and Ottawa.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are scheduled to host the Montreal Canadiens, while the Edmonton Oilers are slated to face the visiting Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 13 as part of a five-game schedule on opening night.
Sport Minister Lisa MacLeod, who represents the Ottawa area in Ontario’s legislature, said federal and provincial governments are still meeting about the NHL’s return-to-play plan but that the logistics are complex.
“I’ll speak for Ontario, we would need clearance from Ottawa’s public health officer, Toronto’s public health officer, the chief medical officer of health and then it would ultimately go to cabinet for a decision,” said MacLeod.
“That would happen in every other single province that has a team.”
The Winnipeg Jets open Jan. 14 against the visiting Calgary Flames, while the Oilers and Canucks meet again in Edmonton.
The Ottawa Senators start their season Jan. 15 against visiting Toronto, the first of two games in as many days between the Ontario rivals in the nation’s capital.
Baseball-style series are common as the league attempts to reduce the travel. For example, the Canadiens and Senators each are scheduled to play three straight games in Vancouver in January.
The NHL realigned its divisions for the 2021 season so that the North Division — which features all seven Canadian teams — would not have to cross the U.S.-Canada border, which remains closed to non-essential travel until at least Jan.
21.
However, provincial health orders will make moving the teams across Canada difficult.
Ontario’s lockdown orders allow professional and elite athletes to train within the province but currently prohibits competition. Premier Doug Ford has also warned against crossing the Ontario-Quebec border, especially in the Ottawa valley region.