Not looking very good... unless things start improving in a hurry you have to wonder if a season cancellation is imminent.
Either way I'm not sure the WHL just bails on the season without some kind of effort.
It's tough because you can at least cut your losses if you just mothball the league for the season. It would be more of a hit financially if you get the players together for training camp, have the employees working in the office doing their thing, etc. only to have the bottom fall out a few weeks into the season.
Would any Canadian teams even have a realistic prospect of having fans in the stands anytime soon? There is no chance in Manitoba and I'm assuming Alberta... not so sure about BC and Sask.
not a chance in BC.. nobody here is allowed to hang out with anyone out of our own home, let alone go into an arena with others to watch hockey... and that has been extended to Jan 8th now.. The thought of any type of crowd in BC wont happen anytime soon at all.
BC is extremely bad right now Covid numbers wise and a lot of deaths unfortunately
The delay has officially been extended. It will be January before they decide. Obviously the lynchpin is whether the new restrictions, combined with vaccinations bring case numbers down enough to allow for fans. I now officially doubt the season will happen at all.
WHL delays start of 2020/21 regular season
Ya this was obviously going to happen having it delayed longer. Brutal to see this happen. I would imagine during the next meeting in January that it will be agreed upon to cancel the season once and for all
I know this will never happen, but if the goal for the WHL teams is to put their teams back on the ice, they would co-ordinate with the Junior A leagues to hold scrimmages/games with teams in their immediate areas. The games would not be close, but would give players a chance to get some game-intensity action in, and you would find that the top two lines of most Junior A teams would be more-or-less competitive with the WHL teams. Prince George would be the outlier, having only the Spruce Kings to play against, but clubs like Kamloops and Kelowna could match up against Penticton, Vernon and Merritt without going too far and incurring additional travel costs - especially hotels and meals. Of course I know there are jurisdictional problems that Hockey Canada would have to sort out and the Junior A clubs would twist themselves into knots telling the NCAA that they aren't playing real games so it doesn't impact their "amateur" status, and the WHL would have to get over the fact that these scrimmages might elevate the status of Junior A teams.It just doesn't help with how games are scheduled the most scheduled is 2-3 games a week. kinda hard when it would be divisional only games and there's only 5 US teams and 5 BC teams in the western conference of the WHL.
I know this will never happen, but if the goal for the WHL teams is to put their teams back on the ice, they would co-ordinate with the Junior A leagues to hold scrimmages/games with teams in their immediate areas. The games would not be close, but would give players a chance to get some game-intensity action in, and you would find that the top two lines of most Junior A teams would be more-or-less competitive with the WHL teams. Prince George would be the outlier, having only the Spruce Kings to play against, but clubs like Kamloops and Kelowna could match up against Penticton, Vernon and Merritt without going too far and incurring additional travel costs - especially hotels and meals. Of course I know there are jurisdictional problems that Hockey Canada would have to sort out and the Junior A clubs would twist themselves into knots telling the NCAA that they aren't playing real games so it doesn't impact their "amateur" status, and the WHL would have to get over the fact that these scrimmages might elevate the status of Junior A teams.
For me, the fact that the Ed Chynoweth Cup won't get awarded is secondary to the fact that a lot of 17/18-year-olds are losing out on a critical year of development. Some of that could be offset if some of these kinds of scrimmages could take place.
BC's restrictions just got extended to Feb 5th. It's not looking good unless they do the bubble like the Q, and that bubble would have to be outside BC. Bonnie Henry isn't opening us up anytime soon.I do think there is going to be a short season. Remember, the Memorial Cup won't be awarded until the end of June. Plenty of time still. I think they're going to do whatever it takes, to have a season.