BETTMAN CONVINCES NHL OWNERS TO ‘PAUSE’ SEASON
The Canadiens won’t win the Stanley Cup this year, but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is hoping some team will.
The NHL announced Thursday afternoon that it was putting the season on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Bettman chose to use the word “pause” instead of “suspend” following a conference call with the league’s board of governors.
“Our goal is to resume play as soon as it is appropriate and prudent, so that we will be able to complete the season and award the Stanley Cup,” Bettman said in a statement after the conference call. “Until then, we thank NHL fans for your patience and hope you stay healthy.”
A source Thursday morning said Bettman’s decision to suspend the season would be announced in the afternoon and was inevitable, but that a few NHL owners were in “total denial.” Bettman made the correct decision even if all NHL owners weren’t on board at first.
The NBA had already announced it was “suspending” its season on Wednesday, starting with Thursday’s games, after Utah Jazz all-star centre Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. On Thursday, Jazz teammate Donovan Mitchell also tested positive.
MLS announced Thursday its season was being suspended for 30 days, coming about 90 minutes before the NHL’S decision was announced. The AHL later said its season was also being suspended.
For Montreal sports fans, that means the Canadiens, Impact and Laval Rocket have all been shut down and when they might return to action remains uncertain. Major League Baseball announced Thursday it has cancelled the remainder of its spring-training games and that the start of the 2020 regular season will be delayed by at least two weeks. That means two spring-training games between the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays scheduled for March 23-24 at Olympic Stadium won’t happen.
The NHL source said the league didn’t announce it would suspend — or “pause” — games Wednesday night because Bettman still needed to get all the owners on board, which he eventually did. In Bettman’s statement, he noted that NBA and NHL players share many facilities and locker-rooms during the season and that “it now seems likely that some member of the NHL community would test positive at some point” and added “it is no longer appropriate to try to continue to play games at this time.”
Canadiens players and some media members had already arrived at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard on Thursday for a 10:30 a.m. morning skate before the NHL announced at 10 a.m. that clubs had been advised not to hold morning skates, practices or team meetings. Shortly after that, the Canadiens confirmed the morning skate had been cancelled, the players were sent home and there was no media availability.
The Canadiens had been scheduled to play the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night at the Bell Centre.
What happens next with the NHL schedule is anyone’s guess, but TSN senior hockey writer Frank Seravalli reported on Twitter that he was hearing teams have been asked to provide arena availability through the end of July.
The Canadiens have 11 games remaining on their schedule, including four at the Bell Centre. If the NHL eventually decides to cancel the rest of the regular season and start with the playoffs when action resumes — based on the standings when play stopped — the Canadiens would be done, missing the playoffs for the third straight season and the fourth time in five years.
The Canadiens issued a statement Thursday afternoon saying they support the NHL’S decision to pause the season.
“The club takes the health and safety of supporters, employees, all players and team personnel very seriously,” the Canadiens said in the statement. “Ticket holders are asked to keep their tickets. They will receive a communication later to be informed of the procedures to be followed, depending on the sequence of events. We would like to thank all supporters for their support and understanding.”
Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, met with the media after Wednesday night’s 113-97 win over the Denver Nuggets to discuss the NBA’S decision to suspend the season and his comments were fantastic during this pandemic.
“OK, so we won the last game of the season so we’re officially champs,” Cuban joked before getting serious.
“Obviously very concerned, but it’s not necessarily about basketball,” he said about the coronavirus. “Obviously, this is much bigger than basketball. I’m concerned about whether my kids have school or not. I’m concerned are we all doing the right thing, because this is obviously new territory. This is certainly a black swan event in my experiences and so basketball actually becomes secondary.”
Cuban added: “This is people’s lives at stake. This isn’t about basketball, this isn’t about the Mavericks, this isn’t about when do we start or do we start or how do we start. This is a global pandemic where people’s lives are at stake. I’m a lot more worried about my kids and my mom, who’s 82 years old, and talking to her and telling her to stay in the house than I am about when we play our next game.”
Amen.