Vancouver doesn’t need a promotional video to trump its NHL hub readiness. Gerry Kahrmann / PNG files
In a 64-second promotional video, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney used the majestic Rocky Mountains to help champion Edmonton as an NHL hub city for resumption of league play
Can a little levity go a long way?
Despite all the seriousness of proposed NHL hub-city concepts in Vancouver and Edmonton — especially stringent testing and cohort quarantine bubbles to ease novel coronavirus outbreak concerns — came a lighter moment courtesy of Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.
In a 64-second promotional video rolled out Monday, Kenney used the majestic Rocky Mountains to help champion the Alberta capital as one of two cities that could be named this week to host a restart of the NHL season that was paused March 12 by COVID-19.
Edmonton only appears in a few seconds of the family tourism video.
“It’s the obvious choice to bring the NHL to Edmonton,” said Kenney, knowing a successful bid would help stimulate a sagging economy.
If we concede Las Vegas as a preferred hub — and the league’s zest to name a Canadian city that has crushed the COVID-19 curve — then this Vancouver versus Edmonton thing has reached another level. Toronto, Chicago and Los Angeles are other contenders.
In the Alberta video, the following titles pop up: ‘Playoffs in Edmonton’, ‘Play in the Rockies’, ‘Room to Breathe’, ‘Kind’. ‘Considerate’. ‘Consider It Done’. Segments show lakes, waterfalls, glaciers, tours, fishing, horseback riding, golf and everyone embracing the splendour and superlative accommodations.
The pitch has nothing to do with Edmonton’s favourable arena and hotel infrastructure, but everything to do with the hope that when playoffs reach the final two rounds, there may be an adjusted quarantine concept so families can be in proximity to players.
That seems like a real reach because of current quarantine edicts.
The NHL Players’ Association has a say in where its members play, but families entering Canada from abroad are still subject to the additional 14-day quarantine period. How do you sell that to a player? How does his family enjoy the great outdoors from a hotel room after a four-hour drive from Edmonton to Jasper?
In the Vancouver hub proposal, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry stressed players and staff must remain in 50-person cohort quarantine bubbles through duration of the post-season. No interaction with the public and no family contact — even though B.C. Premier John Horgan broached that possibility two weeks ago.
In the pitch, Horgan hoped families would stay in the same Vancouver hotel as their team and board private buses to practices, meals and other events organized by the club. They would also receive regular COVID-19 testing at the expense of the team.
“We’re promoting the family element of what B.C. provides and how that fits in the quarantine will be up to the teams to figure out,” Horgan told Postmedia News at the time. “It could be a family unit where the team takes up to three floors of a hotel and there’s no co-mingling with residents.”
On the surface it sounded good, but in reality of the new normal and tight bubbles and restricted movements, it wasn’t going to work. Maybe in three months, but not now. And if the courting card game comes to that, Vancouver can raise the family fun ante by offering up Whistler, boating and whale watching.
B.C. Tourism Minister Lisa Beare reiterated provincial health concerns on Tuesday to confirm that the modified quarantine would only “allow players to quarantine themselves as a unit.”
In the interim, there’s much to suggest that Vancouver is a serious hub contender. The infrastructure at UBC as a practice facility has gone well past the curiosity stage and the abundance of five-star hotels in the downtown core is not lost on the league and its players.
The JW Marriott, for example, is a short walk from Rogers Arena and was the host hotel for the 2019 NHL entry draft.
In the end, these boxes must be checked for a successful bid:
HEALTH EQUALS HUB CITY WEALTH
B.C. and Alberta have been champions of flattening the COVID-19 curve.
Edmonton has experienced little U.S. border traffic and has had aggressive testing. Still, the number of active cases increased in the last 10 days and five restaurants closed temporarily this week after staff and customers tested positive.
HOW SMALL IS YOUR BUBBLE?
This is the kicker.
Containing games, practices and accommodations in proximity was Job No. 1 for bidders. Vancouver has the UBC options, but that comes with transportation challenges and multiple buses and drivers to ensure physical distancing. And are drivers included in that 50-person bubble?
The cavernous Rogers Place in Edmonton has a practice facility attached to it and the 346-room JW Marriott hotel is across the street and accessed by an overhead pedestrian walkway. That’s a big plus, but Vancouver’s broader base of five-star downtown hotels is a big boon.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
