Toronto, Edmonton to serve as NHL hubs – Winnipeg Free Press

Lucky us, eh?

On a day we celebrated all that we love about the true north strong and free, it was fitting the National Hockey League decided the only way to hold the Stanley Cup playoffs this summer was to do so entirely here in the land of poutine, Beaver Tails and maple syrup.

COVID-19 is out of control in many American locales, including Las Vegas, which had been the runaway favourite to be chosen as a so-called hub city until the surging number of cases over the past week became impossible to ignore.

I don’t care how tight the so-called bubble for teams is going to be, choosing to bring people into a pandemic hot spot would have been reckless at best and, at worst, criminally negligent.

The NHL can be truly ridiculous at times — see last week’s draft lottery debacle as Exhibit A — but they’re definitely not that dense. And so we’re down to Edmonton and Toronto, which make a lot more sense than anywhere south of the border (Sin City, Los Angeles and Chicago were also on the short list, with the NHL initially wanting one hub in each country).

Both cities have checked off all the requisite boxes for both the league and its players. That includes getting the federal government to waive the mandatory 14-day quarantine for those coming from outside the country in a glaring example of how money talks and sports often calls the shots when it comes to policy and procedures that wouldn’t apply to the rest of us lowly citizens.

A note of caution: Vancouver was the hub city of choice until Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer, wouldn’t kowtow to the league’s demands regarding contact tracing. Good on Henry for refusing to budge, and shame on the NHL for trying to change what made B.C. a prime location in the first place.

That fact alone should have everyone’s Spidey senses tingling about this whole process, which really boils down to the almighty dollar and stopping the financial bleeding.

All of this is the result of many long days, and nights, of negotiations between the NHL and NHLPA that spilled into Canada Day, which is always a marquee date on the hockey calendar reflecting the start of free agent frenzy, but took on an entirely different look this time around.

An announcement about a tentative agreement on all return-to-play protocols including training camp and the unprecedented 24-team tournament is imminent.

Expect some spirited debate, as many players are said to be less than thrilled at all of this. But the alternative is likely worse, which is why it should ultimately get approved once they vote, likely this weekend, and things can quickly ramp up.

Details on how this will play out have begun to emerge. Barring an unexpected, last-minute development, all Western Conference teams including the Winnipeg Jets will participate in empty-arena, made-for-TV games in Edmonton. All Eastern Conference teams will do the same in Toronto. There will be extensive health and safety protocols. Players will be allowed to opt out. Training camps should begin in all home markets by mid-July, with the puck dropping on play by the end of the month and continuing into early October.

Perhaps the most surprising development in all of this isn’t that they’ve found a way to play, which seemed inevitable from the start. No, it’s that a lengthy extension of the collective bargaining agreement is being wrapped in, including a new financial framework for players and owners and apparent Olympic inclusion in both 2022 (Beijing) and 2026 (Italy).

That’s a significant step given the ugly labour history this century, especially in the midst of such uncertain times. And great news for those pining to see a return of best against best on an international stage, which was sorely missing from the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea.

Kudos to the league and players for putting aside past differences and finding common ground and a path forward. The last thing a sports fan wants to stomach is yet another lockout where wealthy players and wealthier owners fight over money. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt. Wouldn’t recommend. Zero stars.

So, yes, hockey is back. Almost. Kind of, even if the NHL of the immediate future will look nothing like the NHL of the recent past. Winnipeg vs. the Calgary Flames playing in August inside an empty Rogers Place in Edmonton, just like we all saw coming.

It’s still hard to fathom we’re at this stage, considering the global health crisis is much bigger than at the time sports paused in mid-March. Remember when one single NBA player, Rudy Gobert, got COVID-19 and that was enough to bring games across North America to a screeching halt?

Now we have 25 NHL players already testing positive during informal skates in June and most barely bat an eye. The one big difference, of course, is the bubble environment that will be created, in consultation with health experts, which the league believes can mitigate potential spread, including within the hub cities, which should at least get a modest economic boost by being hockey hosts for a couple months.

They better be right. To which I’d say good luck to all involved, as Edmonton and Toronto will be opening their doors to a great unknown. The last thing we want to see is the kind of inept bungling that has made our U.S. neighbours the epicentre of the pandemic. As much as I can’t wait to cover live hockey for you readers once again, it can’t come at the expense of public safety.

Oh Canada? Or woe, Canada? It remains to be seen.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre grew up wanting to be a professional wrestler. But when that dream fizzled, he put all his brawn into becoming a professional writer.

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