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For the National Hockey League and other professional sports to be able to return to action in the near future, their leagues will have to come up with a safe way to play games and even before that, have local municipalities give their approval to allow them to gather for practice and ramp up for their eventual return to action.
A sign of this occurred on Friday, as the Ontario provincial government announced that it will immediately allow athletes from professional sports teams to begin training at their club facilities.
“While we experience these unprecedented times, as it relates to COVID-19 and the very real public health crisis that we're enduring, we are now starting to turn our attention slowly to reopening the Ontario economy. Each year, sports and recreation in the province of Ontario represents $12.6 Billion in economic activity. And today, we are lifting certain restrictions in a controlled, restricted, sanitized and voluntary manner to allow for individualized training and conditioning for our major sports teams, whose leagues have come forward with rigorous health and safety protocols." said Ontario cabinet minister Lisa MacLeod.
"I'm pleased that the NBA has taken a leading role. And today, has been green lit to begin training for our Toronto Raptors. I remain committed to working with the NHL, MLB, CFL and other leagues who have teams in Ontario. Once their health and safety protocols are in place, we'll look forward to seeing a return for them as well."
Unlike the NBA, who is allowing their players to have limited use of training facilities as soon as next week, the NHL has not approved any such step. The league is still under self-quarantine, but did issue a statement last week as to their plan to start proceeding towards progress.
“The precise date of transition to Phase 2, during which Players might return to small group activities in NHL Club training facilities, remains undetermined. However, provided that conditions continue to trend favorably – and, subject to potential competitive concerns as between disparately situated markets – we believe we may be able to move to Phase 2 at some point in the mid-to-later portion of May.…
The NHL is still pondering formats for a potential resumption of the season. The events this week of clubs offering refunds for their remaining regular season home games or credits towards next year’s season tickets is an indicator that the chances of completing the regular season are fading.
Consistent with that, Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic reported on Thursday that a 24-team playoff format is gaining momentum with the league and NHLPA’s “Return to Play… Committee, which would satisfy those teams that were on the bubble when the season was paused on March 12 and provide extra playoff games for the league’s broadcasting partners to make up for the final 12 to 14 regular season games lost to the league pause.
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Some podcast. It’s good to be back.@IamNormanJames with @MikeInBuffalo #Tmltalk #theleafsconvo #COVID19 #coronavirus #nhl https://t.co/JHrPwSIONs
— The Leafs Convo (@TheLeafsConvo) April 26, 2020
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