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Canucks might host NHL games this summer

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VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — It might not happen for a few more months, but hockey fans may once again be watching live games and better yet, they may be hosted in Vancouver.

As part of a hub city scenario, the Vancouver Canucks have told the NHL they’re interested in being one of the host sites if or when the league decides to bring the game back. The scenario is the workaround solution to deal with the travel that’s not allowed right now because of the pandemic.

There would be four central hubs and each city represents each division — two in the Western and Eastern conferences. Vancouver is just one city but Edmonton and Raleigh have also been rumoured.

“The hub city proposal does not include fans. This would be about all the teams in the Pacific Division essentially playing out of Vancouver,” explains Sat Shah, co-host of The Program on Sportsnet 650. “There would be multiple games being played out of rinks in Vancouver, whether that’s Rogers Arena or elsewhere, and those teams wouldn’t have to travel — they could stay in hotels and potentially have their families with them as well. This is all about being able to pull off playing games in isolation without running into risks of COVID-19 running rampant in the league.”

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It’s one thing if there’s no fans in the arenas, but what about the players. How safe is it really to have them so close to each other?

“It all comes down to two things. The first one is do you have enough testing capacity and that capacity issue goes beyond just private enterprises wanting testing capacity, it comes down to local health authorities, the province and, of course, the federal government. So, can you find a way to get tests and not take away from the public demand and needs — that’s the first thing. The second thing being can you pull off this off and provide as safe a possible environment for these players and also their families? In theory, this is something health experts have said that if you have daily testing, then you don’t have as many issues when it comes to the close proximity of the virus being passed from person to person. But you would still have to take precautions like having a bigger visor or taking other measures when it comes to staff. But if you do testing on a daily basis and as long as it doesn’t take away from local resources, there is a way to do this without the virus spreading within a locker room.”

Shah also reminds fans, hockey is a business and the decisions being made by the league isn’t just based on science, but money.

“… because the season has been cut short and each team had anywhere from 12 to 13 games remaining plus the playoffs, that means you’re not getting revenue from the tickets and the other issue being the TV money that’s already been paid now has to be credited for next season. So, suddenly the NHL would be owing the TV companies free content next year. So, not only are you losing revenue this year, you’re potentially losing revenue next season and when you look at how the salary cap is structured and how important that revenue stream is to how the league conducts itself, then you understand this is essentially about money. They’re not going to do something that’s unsafe that doesn’t get the approval from local health authorities but the motivating factor here is money.”

Regardless of what rink hosts games, the financial cost may not be viable for teams who are losing and have lost so much money.

“I would imagine… but generally speaking if people are going to be renting out the arenas to play multiple games in it, there would be a fee to the arena for the usage because you still have to flood the rink, you still have to use electricity at the rink and all the services to do this even if fans aren’t there. I imagine there would be a level of compensation towards the Canucks or owner Francesco Aquilini, if the facility is used by multiple teams as a hub city.”

As bad as people want live sports to come back, it’s also worth questioning why the league doesn’t just cancel the 2019-20 season and plan for the fall.

“To me, the best-case scenario to see games played wouldn’t be until mid-July or August at the earliest and that’s why you’re hearing the NHL trying to push the draft up to June because they understand we could be going months upon months before there’s any other NHL content,” adds Shah.

Shah says the league needs about a month just to get games going. Two weeks to get players in quarantine when they return to their respective cities, two to three weeks to hold a training camp so the NHL needs to make a decision about finishing the current season by about mid-June at the very latest.

The Canucks (36-27-6) last played a game on March 10th, beating the New York Islanders in a shoot-out 5-4.

The only two times in league history the NHL has not awarded the Stanley Cup were in 1919 because of the Spanish Flu and in 2005 because of the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

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Edited By Harry Miller

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list – CBC.ca

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.” 

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

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That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout. 

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign. 

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League. 

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday. 

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford. 

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said. 

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday. 

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13. 

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

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Senators score 5 in 1st, cruise past Sabres – NHL.com

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“I thought that we were ready to go,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “We got some pucks at the net, we got people at the net. Took advantage of our opportunities and, I think, built a nice lead. And then I thought, in the third period, we continued again. Our goaltending was good. Made some key saves. But I thought we shut them down in the third period good.”

Shane Pinto had a goal and three assists, and Brady Tkachuk, Boris Katchouk, Jakob Chychrun and Drake Batherson each had a goal and an assist for the Senators (31-36-4), who have won three in a row. Korpisalo made 34 saves.

“If you want to win, you need balance,” Pinto said. “And we had that tonight and it’s going to be big for the back-to-back tomorrow (against the Chicago Blackhawks) to have that same thing. So, going to need all the guys on board.”

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JJ Peterka and Connor Clifton scored for the Sabres (34-34-5), who have lost four of six. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen allowed four goals on nine shots before he was replaced by Devon Levi, who made 31 saves in relief.

“We wanted, I guess, to play as individuals,” Clifton said. “I’m disappointed we let ‘Upie’ down, he’s the heart and soul of this team. He’s kept us in so many games, and just to not show up and play that careless style, give them freebies all over the place. … Yeah, obviously, the first 20 really dictated the rest of the game.”

Artem Zub gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first period. He stuffed in a loose puck on the goal line after Katchouk’s shot was redirected by Mark Kastelic between Luukkonen’s pads.

Katchouk made it 2-0 at 4:56, tipping Parker Kelly’s shot from the top of the right face-off circle past Luukkonen.

“It’s keeping the consistency with good effort, right habits,” Katchouk said. “The small things matter so much in this game. And obviously, it worked out tonight with the tip. But kudos to my linemates. ‘Kels’ and ‘Kassy,’ they worked hard to get the puck as well. Those two battle hard every night as well. We feed off each other, and it’s good to play with them.”

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Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

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