NBL of Canada announces return-to-play plans

Island Storm owner acknowledges a lot has to happen between now and then

Duncan Shaw hopes his optimism pays off.

Shaw is the owner of the Charlottetown-based Island Storm of the National Basketball League of Canada, which announced plans on Tuesday to begin the 2020-21 season in December. The 2019-20 season was cancelled at the midway point in March due to health and safety concerns related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“I am an optimist by nature, and hopefully that will pay off and something good will happen,” Shaw told The Guardian in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon.

“A lot of water has to go under the bridge before there is basketball in the air.”

The league issued a media release announcing its returnto-play plans. Deputy commissioner Audley Stephenson said the league is excited to be coming back for a 10th season and proud to help communities rebuild from the effects of COVID-19.

“We will continue to follow the direction of government and public health agencies to ensure the safety of our fans, players, teams and league personnel associated with our game,” said Stevenson.

Shaw said teams are now playing the waiting game as they “can’t do much” to prepare for the upcoming season until plans are finalized and confirmed. For example, teams can’t sign players because they can't actually guarantee them a job.

Other unknowns, Shaw pointed out, include what season-ticket packages look like, how the Eastlink Centre will be laid out and the issue of social distancing in arenas

“Other years you had your season-ticket package, tweak it and put it out,” said Shaw. “It’s not going to be that, and deciding what that looks like is all speculation at this point.”

“I am an optimist by nature, and hopefully that will pay off and something good will happen. A lot of water has to go under the bridge before there is basketball in the air.”

Duncan Shaw