NHL could have all-Canadian division
The National Hockey League was forced to shut down in March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but were able to find a way to get the season concluded in the summer. Teams were isolated in bubbles in either Edmonton or Toronto and played all their games without any fans in attendance. The Tampa Bay Lightning ultimately won the Stanley Cup and the goal of finishing the campaign was achieved.
Moving forward though, there are a lot more questions as to how the league will carry out the 2020-21 season. Fans will likely still not be allowed in large numbers to attend live sports events – especially indoors – and unlike most other professional sports leagues in North America, there are a total of seven teams playing outside of the United States.
The NHL has seven Canadian teams, which could be a real problem if the boarder between Canada and the United States remains closed. The Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball were forced to move to Buffalo for the 2020 season as the Canadian federal government would not allow them to play regular season games in Toronto.
It was a similar situation for Canada’s Major League Soccer sides, who also had to wrap up their campaigns south of the boarder. The league had arranged for Toronto FC, the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps to play several games against each other in their local markets before requiring them to move to the US to play American clubs.
The NHL has not announced any formal plans, but the league has been looking at the possibility of an all-Canadian division that would see all seven teams north of the boarder playing against each other in their local markets. This would ensure players and staff do not have to cross any boarders, nor would they be mandated to quarantine at all.
“We’re not going to move all seven Canadian franchises south of the 49th parallel … so we have to look at alternative ways to play,” said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday as part of a virtual panel discussion, via Sportsnet. “While crossing the US-Canadian border is an issue, we’re also seeing within the United States limitations in terms of quarantining when you go from certain states to other states.
“It’s again part of having to be flexible,”
The league knows they need to be creative with how they handle the upcoming season, as the pandemic has proven to be rather unpredictable and there could be a real danger the campaign isn’t played at all.
The idea of an all-Canadian division is certainly exciting for fans who would love to see their favourite team play their rivals more often. It would also be great for television ratings in Canada having two local teams squaring off more often.
“The Canadian teams are quite strong,” Montreal head coach Claude Julien said back in October when the plan originally began gaining momentum, via Sportsnet. “It might be a very competitive division. We know that Ottawa is being rebuilt — that doesn’t mean they aren’t competitive — but the other teams all believe in their chance to make the playoffs.
“People are likely to see very exciting and very competitive hockey.”
No official start date for the upcoming season has been announced yet, but fans are eager to watch their favourite hockey teams in action again.
