We’ve had sports back for the past several months and we’ve come to the understanding that sports look very different in a pandemic. This season is looking like one we’ve never seen before and one we’ll hopefully never see again. We have players getting ready for games outside of stadiums. Teams who have limited times to practice. States shutting down facilities. The list goes on and on. However, that doesn’t stop everyone from trudging forward.
QMJHL Entering Bubble
The QMJHL recently announced their decision to enter a bubble for a limited amount of time. The bubble will be located at the Videotron Center in Quebec City and will last November 17 through 27. The purpose of the bubble is to protect the health and safety of its players. The next issue for the QMJHL is, who will pay for the rent for the facility? Keep in mind that the Quebec government has already given each QMJHL team $1 million to help them survive through COVID. Stay tuned for updates on this.
USHL Regular Season Underway
The USHL started their season last weekend and it looked like people were going to wait just a bit longer. They were forced to postpone four games because the league could not meet the minimum requirements for player safety. There are reasons to be cautious about moving forward because the league used the same statement for four games last weekend. The league states over and over that “per league safety protocols, minimum standards were not met to play this weekend’s games.”
Each statement can be found on their website and Twitter feed, but at this point, they’re being very protective of the information that’s being released.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on the USHL to see if more blanket statements are released and if more games are postponed. If the USHL is forced to go on a brief hiatus, that could spell trouble for other North American leagues.
If you aren’t already listening, be sure to check out Stall Talk along with other podcasts on tjhpodcast.com. We’ll keep providing you with the latest junior hockey news and with other awesome content. Be sure to follow @TJHP on Twitter along with myself, @Nwinansw. We’ll see you next week.
