NHL believes seven teams from Canada can play out of home arenas

The NHL believes that all of seven Canadian teams participating in the league can start the 2021 season playing out of their home arenas.

In a statement announced on Thursday, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said that the league believes it is clear to play in Canada following discussions over the past 24 hours with the provinces’ health authorities.

The NHL has been discussing with the five provincial governments that have their teams participating in the league to attempt to gain approval to play starting January 13 during the second wave of the world health crisis.

The league realigned its divisions for the 2020-21 season so that the North Division (featuring all seven teams from Canada) would not have to cross the border between the U.S. and Canada, which is still closed to non-essential travel until at least January 21.

On behalf of the five provinces, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, sent a note to the NHL on Wednesday asking for increased coronavirus testing or a return to a condition in which all teams would be in a secure zone in one city, the same way as the league did in Edmonton and Toronto last season.

It appears that the requests for increased coronavirus testing from the provinces have been accepted by the league, which was one hurdle to overcome.

There remain several potential amendments to work out before the NHL can hold games in Canada, even though the league is confident that changes won’t be necessary.

The NHL released its schedule for the 2021 season on Wednesday, with each team playing 56 games – less than the usual 82.

As part of a five-game schedule on opening night January 13, the Toronto Maple Leafs is scheduled to host the Montreal Canadiens and the Edmonton Oilers is slated to face the visiting Vancouver Canucks.

The Winnipeg Jets starts the second day of the season against the visiting Calgary Flames, while the Oilers meets Canuck again in Edmonton. Then the Ottawa Senators starts their season against visiting Toronto on January 15.