Should we really want Vancouver to be an NHL hub city?
Sure, there’s lots to gain economically if NHL chooses Rogers Arena, but health risks are worrying
To celebrate the summer solstice, here’s something that will make the longest day of the year even longer: the Monday morning musings and meditations on the world of sports.
▪ It’s hard to know where things stand precisely because, if we’ve learned anything about COVID-19, it’s you’re never sure where things stand from one day to the next.
But this much is certain. Vancouver is way past the swimsuit competition and is now one of the finalists in the Hub City Pageant. More to the point, we’re likely one of the two favourites to land a hostcity gig for the NHL’s Stanley Cup thingy scheduled for later this summer.
Over the weekend, a flurry of reports from various insiders stated Vancouver is one of six locales under consideration as a host city. The decision is expected to come within the week. One of the spots is conceded to Las Vegas, which means we’re up against Edmonton, Toronto and two unidentified American cities as the other hub.
We can likely rule out the two American cities. The number of infections in the U.S. continues to be scary and, with so much at risk, the NHL can’t gamble on the second site.
That leaves the three Canadian centres and they all bring something to the table. Toronto has an Eastern time zone and its own general awesomeness. Edmonton has been chasing this aggressively since the concept was first announced. Vancouver hasn’t been as enthusiastic but there’s a political will behind the bid and given everything else our city offers, to say nothing of its impressive record in fighting this diabolical foe, it just seems like a logical choice.
The next question is should we be happy about this?
If selected, we’ll be inviting players and staff from 12 NHL teams to our city. That doesn’t include TV and radio crews, security, medical personnel and others. It doesn’t sound like a lot and we’re assured every precaution will be taken to keep people in the bubble. But you start adding everything up and the numbers coming to our city aren’t exactly insignificant.
This also comes at a time when the border between the U.S., and Canada remains closed for all non-essential travel and those entering British Columbia from outside the country are expected to quarantine for 14 days.
Well, they are unless they’re an NHL player. The rules changed on June 10 when Premier John Horgan announced a “modification” to the existing policy.
Ten days before that announcement, Horgan said B.C., would not change its quarantine rules for anyone. Then NHL commissioner Gary Bettman stated publicly that policy would be a problem for a hub city.
Hello, modification.
Admittedly, this comes down to a question of optics. For more than three months, British Columbians have followed the guidelines of the public health authority with a single-minded purpose, sacrificing to keep themselves and their neighbours safe and healthy.
We can be proud of those efforts and they’ve created some of the best COVID-related numbers in North America. But they weren’t made so we could throw our doors open to the NHL and an ersatz Stanley Cup tournament which will benefit a couple of hotels and the food-delivery industry.
These games will take place, the virus willing, and we’ll be watching. But if Edmonton or Toronto wants them that badly, they can have them.
n On a related note, if the news over the weekend didn’t awaken you to the dangers of reopening sports, you’re not paying attention. Major League Soccer, the NFL, the NHL and MLB all reported positive tests and the PGA, which has emerged as the one restart success story, reported golfer Nick Watney had tested positive.
That’s alarming enough. But what’s more alarming is the backdrop for those positive tests. Florida is supposed to be the site for the return of MLS and the NBA. On Friday, it recorded just under 4,000 new infections, breaking the record it had set the day before.
Arizona, where a number of NHL players are skating, California, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Utah all recorded their highest seven-day averages since the health crisis hit.
Look, I want to see games as badly as anyone. I’ve run out of colourful characters from Vancouver Canucks’ history to write about and you can only rip on MLB so many times before you’re flogging a dead horse.
But, over the last three-plus months, we’ve come to understand you can’t finesse the coronavirus, you can’t negotiate with it and you certainly can’t wish it away. The only two choices are to listen to the health experts, who’ve been right every step of the way, or ignore their counsel and live with the consequences.
Over the last 100 days we’ve seen the nature of those consequences. It’s bad now. Just remember it can get worse.
n Loved this stat from RBC Heritage at Hilton Head. Last year C.T. Pan won the tournament at 12-under. This year 33 players beat that score.
n And finally, my dad was born and raised on a farm in Vermilion, Alta., but unlike his three brothers, he never caught the agriculture bug. During harvesting season, he would infuriate my uncles by sneaking off to listen to the World Series on the car radio.
So I come by this honestly. Sports were always a part of his life and they became a part of mine. During basic training with the RCMP in Regina, he would go to Taylor Field to see Glenn Dobbs starring for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He and my mother used to spend part of their summers in Waskesiu, a resort town in Saskatchewan, where they’d run into Gordie Howe. One of my first memories of my parents was seeing them dressed to the nines to take in a Saturday night game at Montreal Forum in the early 1960s.
Sunday was Father’s Day and sports gave my father and I a lifetime of memories. He’s gone now but the memories endure. I hope you have those same memories with your father.