There’s seemingly good news for Canadian hockey fans who want to see Canadian teams play hockey games in Canada. As per TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the NHL is expected to officially make further announcements sometime on Thursday, but buzz is the league has approval to move forward with the season in all seven Canadian arenas.
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Dreger wrote: “It’s expected the NHL will respond to the provincial governments today.” Of course, nothing is for sure and the approval might come with a few strings attached. If the NHL agrees to follow the guidelines that the provinces laid out Wednesday evening, it is believed that all five provinces will say ok these teams have our permission to play now.
The good news is, things are looking more promising as the NHL was concerned that they might have to ship the seven Canadian clubs down south to start the 2020-21 campaign in the United States.
There Might Be a Catch
This comes one day after the five Canadian provincial health authorities with jurisdiction over NHL games responded to the league’s Return to Play proposal with a joint letter asking for additional measures. Meaning, before all Canadian provinces give the go-head to start, further work might need to be done.
That might mean starting in bubbles and running for about a month that way until the provinces are pleased.
There is some speculation that some of these provinces have asked the NHL clubs to make serious media buys as part of the approval process. In other words, if the NHL and the team’s purchase media spots promoting safety and COVID-19 related health regulations, they’ll be good to go.
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