After unsuccessfully pitching its Return to Play plans to Canadian public health officials on Monday, the NHL is reportedly looking for another kick at the can to lay out its design, presumably with enhanced safety measures in place.
Friday night, both TSN and Sportsnet reported that a tentative deal between the league and players had been reached that would see January 13th as opening day. You can read the full story here, which contains more details.
Originally, the NHL was looking into the possibility of an all-Canadian division to eliminate any unnecessary cross-border travel for the upcoming season in order to mitigate any risk of additional COVID-19 import and transmission. It is evident by the outcome that something within the NHL's plan did not jive with the mandates of the Public Health Agency of Canada, as permission to proceed was denied.
It can only be assumed that the NHL and NHLPA have made some revisions to the plan that they're hoping will earn another shot at being granted permission to proceed.
Given the fact that the NHL has franchises in five different provinces, it may necessitate revisiting the idea of Canadian teams playing in a bubble in hub cities, much like what we experienced during the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The league has yet to receive a response to its request from Canada's health officials.
-
-
