The three Canadian cities that are vying to become one of the NHL‘s two hub locations for this summer’s Stanley Cup Playoffs have received some encouraging news.
With the COVID-19 pandemic top of mind, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that the federal government is “open” to the National Hockey League operating a hub city in Canada, as long as local public health authorities allow it.
Trudeau says the decision rests with the NHL and the provincial and municipal governments in which the hub cities are located.
The NHL has a list of 10 possible destinations, including Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver, in which it will choose two cities that will play host to a total of 24 teams who will be vying for the Stanley Cup later this summer.
But despite Trudeau’s openness to the idea of summer hockey in Canada, there remains a major stumbling block — the border closure.
Canada and the United States have just agreed to extend the ban to cross-border non-essential travel until July 21.
With NHL training camps tentatively set to begin on July 10, you can see the rock and hard place between which the NHL finds itself.
The league has already said that it will not select a Canadian hub city if its players have to adhere to Canada’s mandatory 14-day quarantine for people entering the country.
The Prime Minister wouldn’t dare offer an exemption to NHL players who are living outside our borders, would he?
Such a move would open a can of worms that Trudeau would rather keep shut tight.
Rick Zamperin is the assistant program, news and senior sports director at Global News Radio 900 CHML.