Posted on 05/31/2021 11:04:56 AM PDT by george76
The NHL and health authorities are reportedly working on a travel exemption that would let the winner of the all-Canadian North Division and an American opponent cross the border during the final two rounds of the playoffs, including the Stanley Cup Final.
The exemption would let teams enter Canada for games without having to isolate for 14 days, as is currently required for non-essential travelers because of the pandemic, The Canadian Press reported Sunday, citing two people with the federal government who spoke on condition of anoymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The NHL has been working to secure approval from public health authorities in the provinces and cities that still have teams in the playoffs – Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal, the people told CP. Final approval rests with federal Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino.
In an email to CP, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the effort was ”a work in progress.”
The winner of Monday night’s Game 7 between Montreal and Toronto will play the Jets in the North Division final. The winner of that series will face one of three American division winners in the league semifinals. The two semifinal winners will square off for the Stanley Cup.
Cross-border travel in the NHL has been virtually non-existent since the pandemic hit North America last spring. Last summer, the NHL concluded its season with playoff hubs in Toronto and Edmonton, but all American teams crossed the border just once to open play.
For this season, the league put all seven Canadian teams in one division, and they exclusively played each other to avoid cross-border travel. The NHL had said it was considering having the division winner relocate to the U.S. for the final two rounds unless the government relents..
Other Canadian professional sports teams have had to relocate to the U.S. to avoid cross-border travel. Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays started their season playing home games in Dunedin, Florida, and will call Buffalo, New York, home starting Tuesday.
Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, CF Montreal and Vancouver Whitecaps have relocated to Florida or Utah.
Montreal became the first Canadian team to host a crowd on Saturday when 2,500 fans watched the Habs beat the Maple Leafs in overtime. That crowd was significantly smaller than those permitted in most U.S. venues for all sports, inlcuding the NHL.
One would think this would have been settled before the second round of the playoffs had already been started!
I’ve been watching Premiership Rugby from England. They are finally letting limited numbers of fans into the games which is nice. But when players are replaced and sit in the stands, they put on masks. This after sweating, bleeding, breathing on one another in scrums, mauls, and rucks during the game.
Special place in hell for Trudeau and these evil Marxists in Canada who are drunk on power.
They’ve been working on it for months. Canada has been stubborn. The alternative is to declare a “home” for the Canadian team that makes the 3rd round in America and they come down. And then a Canadian team wins it all for the first time in nearly 30 years and do it entirely in America.
Canada has taken the Chinese Communist approach to the coronavirus and they end up in this situation.
If they make an exception for hockey games, just how seriously can they really be in considering the health of the citizens? Maybe time to get rid of Trudeau and reopen the country...or concede the Stanley Cup.
They should all get the barrage of 23 covid shots. Things will work out just fine.
If the planscamdemic interferes with the profits of the ruling class there will be exemptions. if you’re just a regular person and your family split between the Canada and the US that’s just too damn bad.
Shhhhh... they should just quietly sneak across the border when Covid is sleeping.
Yep. Go to Mexico and walk right in.
If you think Fauci is bad, meet his Canadian counterparts . . .
Justin Trudeau is the biological son of Fidel Castro.?
Well, Margaret was quite the party gal back in her day!
Margaret Trudeau apparently hooked up with multiple members of the Rolling Stones, had an affair with Ted Kennedy, and others.
Yes, everyone should get a Wuhanic Plague shot every day just to make sure they stay alive. Mr. Fauxi says so.
Trudeau is a Hab fan you know....I’m thinking he’ll lift the quarantine but if the Leafs had won he wouldn’t.
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