The NHL is leaning towards Edmonton and Toronto as the final picks for the two hub cities for playoffs, according to a TSN insider.
On Twitter, Bob McKenzie, who is one of TSN’s most long-standing and well-known personalities, said that the league will pick Toronto and Edmonton.
Barring any last-minute complications, and we have seen some of those (Vancouver and Las Vegas), the two NHL Hub cities will be Edmonton and Toronto. ????????
The NHL is looking for two hub cities as part of its goal to allow 24 teams to play out the playoffs for the Stanley Cup — one for the Eastern Conference and one for the Western Conference.
On Tuesday night, hockey analyst John Shannon spoke to the rumours on 630 CHED Inside Sports with Reid Wilkins.
“The latest is that, everything appears to be in Edmonton and Toronto as the two hubs,” Shannon said.
“There was little doubt in my mind that they wanted to be in Toronto, or let’s put it this way, they wanted to be in the Eastern Time zone,” he said. “Obviously Edmonton and the provincial government… has done a magnificent job of paving the way for Edmonton to become a hub city.”
However, Shannon noted nothing is official yet and he’s heard discussions are ongoing.
“Someone actually told me today (Tuesday) it’s not changing day to day — it’s changing hour-to-hour. But it looks like Edmonton and Toronto are the two hub cities,” he said.
Officials in Ontario and Alberta told Global News Wednesday that they could not comment on the status of NHL hub cities until agreements are finalized.
In Ontario, the NHL’s vice president of corporate communications Jennifer Neziol said “nothing has been finalized. When it is, we will make an announcement.”
Alberta Health deferred to Premier Jason Kenney’s office, where spokesperson Christine Myatt said she couldn’t comment “until we have official confirmation.”
Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena is one of two venues in Canada that could play host to NHL playoff games this summer.
The federal government has approved a “cohort quarantine” proposal put forth by the NHL for players entering Canada should the country have a city selected as a hub.
McKenzie also said on Twitter Wednesday that while nothing is “carved in stone just yet,” NHLPA membership could be voting on critical dates for the playoffs by the weekend.
OTTAWA – American receiver Justin Hardy will miss the Ottawa Redblacks’ regular-season finale Friday.
Hardy, who leads the CFL in receptions (97) and is second in receiving yards (1,343), was listed off Ottawa’s depth chart Thursday. Hardy was named Wednesday as the Redblacks’ nominee for the league’s outstanding player award.
American Andrew Miller will start in Hardy’s place.
Ottawa (8-7-1) concludes its regular season hosting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (7-10). The Redblacks have already clinched third in the East and will visit the Toronto Argonauts (10-7) in the division semifinal Nov. 2.
Hamilton has been eliminated from playoff contention.
Incumbent Dru Brown is listed as Ottawa’s starting quarterback.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
BOLOGNA, Italy (AP) — AC Milan’s weekend match at Bologna in Italy’s top soccer league has been postponed, Bologna officials announced Thursday following extensive flooding in the central Italian city.
The Serie A match had been scheduled for Saturday.
Bologna is the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region, large parts of which have been hard hit by torrential rains and bad weather for days.
The game was not immediately rescheduled.
“Following the flood that affected Bologna, intense work is underway to clean up the situation,” the city of Bologna said while announcing the game postponement on X.
BASEL, Switzerland – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov advanced to the quarterfinals of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday.
Shapovalov used a strong service game to overcome the Spanish veteran for the win at the ATP 500 event in just under one hour 40 minutes.
The 25-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., fired 18 aces, including one to set up match point in the second-set tiebreaker, and won 79 per cent of first-serves and 63 per cent of second-serve points.
Shapovalov, a former top-10 player on the ATP Tour, entered this year’s Swiss Indoors ranked 95th and will appear in just his second quarterfinal of the season.
He improved to 3-0 against Bautista Agut, who he beat in July en route to a quarterfinal appearance in Washington.
Shapovalov will next face the winner of a match scheduled for later Thursday between defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal and France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
