Canadian teams could be forced to play season in U.S.

Though there seems to be some momentum toward an NHL season, a new obstacle may get in the way. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that if the league cannot make agreements with each of the five Canadian provinces that house NHL teams, there is a possibility of moving all of them south of the border for a shortened season and holding every game in the United States. Frank Seravalli of TSN has heard the same thing. The league could be floating the idea, perhaps in an attempt to put pressure on the provincial governments.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that if the seven Canadian teams do have to move their operations to the U.S., there would no longer be an All-Canadian division, and more realignment would be required.

Other sports have already experienced a situation like this. In the summer, the Toronto Blue Jays were not allowed to play home games in Canada, meaning they had to move to Buffalo for their shortened season. The NBA’s Toronto Raptors are preparing to start their season in Tampa after moving their entire training camp and preseason south.

Obviously, the difference is that those teams, the Blue Jays and Raptors, are the sole Canadian teams in each of their respective leagues. They had no one to play that wouldn’t have to cross the U.S.-Canada border, meaning a regular season made little sense. In the NHL’s plan, the seven Canadian teams would only play each other, reducing the need to cross the border altogether.

That doesn’t mean it would limit travel all that much though, as those seven teams still stretch across most of the country and would need to move large groups of people across provincial borders. That isn’t ideal, and as Public Health Agency of Canada spokesperson Andre Gagnon told Johnston, “the resumption of sports events in Canada must be undertaken in adherence to Canada’s measures to mitigate the importation and spread of COVID-19.”

If they do need to move to the U.S. there will likely be several markets willing to welcome them in, though moving seven franchises all at once is a lot different than finding a home for the Blue Jays (which was already difficult enough). Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia tweets that Kansas City, Milwaukee, Austin and Orlando could be potential hosts, though speculation on that front could be endless at this point.