Federal government open to working with NHL to have Canadian hub city
By Zach Laing
3 years agoIt appears we could be one step closer to having hockey back in Canada as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would be open to working with the league on having a Canadian hub city.
Just yesterday I wrote about how TSN’s Pierre LeBrun said Vancouver would continue to be in the running as a hub city and the statement about the NHL from Trudeau Tuesday corroborated that.
“We have indicated that we are comfortable with moving forward on an NHL hub in one of three Canadian cities that are asking for it. Obviously, the decision has to be made by the NHL and the cities and provinces in the jurisdiction, but Canada is open to it as long as it is OK’d by the local health authorities.”
With the Canada-US border closed for non-essential travel since March 21st, a mandatory 14-day quarantine period has been put in place. That period has been one of the things holding back a decision on a second hub city to go along with what’s been reported to be Las Vegas.
According to The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, no official decision has been made on a second city and that all three Canadian cities — Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto — continue to be in the mix.
The NHL kicked off their second phase of the return to play plan last week that has seen players begin workouts in their cities. The NHL has targeted July 10th as the start of their third phase which would see training camps launch for the 24-team play-in format.
On Twitter: @zjlaing
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