Over the past weekend, the NHL and the Players’ Association have agreed on where the NHL will resume hockey. Obviously, Vegas was among the choices, as was Vancouver. The NHL wanted to take advantage of the lifting of Canadian restrictions to choose the western Canadian city.
An official announcement was even scheduled for Thursday (three days ago) to announce the news. Everything was in place to make it official and Antoine Roussel had even spoken in this direction.
Then everything derailed. In the past few days, the NHL has done the opposite of this plan by stating rather that the candidacy of Vancouver had been rejected, leaving the five other cities (Edmonton, Toronto, Vegas, Los Angeles and Chicago) in the portrait.
Why?
According to the words of Elliotte Friedman in her last 31 Thoughts before the summer, two reasons have made the city of BC no longer at stake: a large number of positive tests could delay the return and the comings and goings out of the bubble.
31 Thoughts: Enjoy and thank you for reading https://t.co/b1DsMLjdSE
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 27, 2020
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According to an estimate from a host city (whose identity is not known, which is not necessarily Vancouver), isolating the hotel staff for the duration of the event will cost no less than five million dollars . For one city only.
The problem is that Vancouver does not want to bring people from everywhere if they are not all in a bubble. COVID-19 is not wreaking havoc in British Columbia and the arrival of the NHL is not the game-changer.
Everyone wants to take precautions.
The NHL takes all precautions in the case of “bubble” cities https://t.co/IddHRKqcGw
— RDS (@RDSca) June 28, 2020
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This is what ultimately sank Vancouver’s candidacy.
As far as things go, it makes sense to believe that Vegas is still a destination of choice. Los Angeles and Chicago are still in the race, but we must not hold our breath for them.
Among the remaining Canadian cities, Friedman seems to be giving Toronto an edge (as he hears left and right), but nothing is done yet. And if it were only him, in Toronto, it would be the games of the East and not of the West. “We think too much about that one,” he wrote.
A lot of
– Here’s one who’s not a lottery fan.
– He can’t say otherwise.
Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman speaks out on Red Wings’ unfortunate draft lottery luck.
MORE @ https://t.co/SlSU7U27Iv pic.twitter.com/0rhF9D1EAw
— BarDown (@BarDown) June 28, 2020
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– He can’t say the opposite either.
Holland: Oilers want deep playoff run, not No. 1 pick https://t.co/W0SFUK1ZKJ pic.twitter.com/YaZ1azyKmP
— theScore NHL (@theScoreNHL) June 28, 2020
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– Wow! Nice way to get things done.
NBA reportedly in talks to let players replace jersey names with social justice statements. https://t.co/aOqb7vFhmi pic.twitter.com/fVVytJyAOG
— theScore (@theScore) June 28, 2020
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– Nice memories this morning.
Without the helmet, it’s actually cinematic. #GoHabsGo https://t.co/KIIxONMfZX
— From Failing Hands Podcast (@FFHandsPodcast) June 28, 2020
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