NHL could reportedly be on hold for a full year

NHL players, governors, coaches, fans - you name it - most of us have been waiting for game action to return ever since the season was suspended on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

While we can clearly see that the league is working hard to find a solution to resume play and finish the 2019-20 season, it seems that when we listen to the medical experts next season doesn’t seem like a guarantee in the least.

Bob McKenzie explained on last night’s Insider Trading on TSN that some medical experts are questioning the possibility of not only finishing the current season, but also getting a full 2020-21 campaign next year. 

“It was fascinating listening to the surgeon general of Florida yesterday at a news conference. Where until he was unceremoniously whisked away, presumably because the messaging he was giving may not have been to the liking of the governor of Florida. But it was interesting to hear him say that there won’t be or that there shouldn’t be any large mass gatherings in public until such time that a vaccine for the coronavirus is widely available to the population. And then he went on to say that it’s probably going to be at least a year, if not longer, before that vaccine is available. This is consistent with what a lot of people in the medical and scientific community in the last number of days have been raising as a possibility. That there should not be and there won’t be any mass gatherings until that vaccine is in place. 

“And if so, that’s chilling news for the professional sports leagues, at least the economies of the professional sports leagues, and yes, the NHL is trying to conclude the 2019-20 season. But to think ahead to the 2020-21 season at the prospect of, perhaps, all of the season or a good part of the season maybe not being played before any fans or getting any ticket revenue for that. It’s a chilling prospect for the economics side of things. And this is consistent with medicine and science on one side and politicians and financial people on the other side and that push/pull about restarting the economy.”

A chilling news indeed…