(UPDATE: March 2 @ 2:50 pm) - The Western Hockey League has been given the green light from health officials to return to play in British Columbia.
The league made the news official this afternoon, revealing that the league's five BC Division teams will play a 24-game regular season out of two hubs in Kelowna and Kamloops.
The Blazers, Giants and Cougars will play out of the Sandman Centre in Kamloops, while the Rockets and Royals will play out of Kelowna's Prospera Place.
“With our extensive protocols and the necessary approvals now in place, we are looking forward to play beginning in the Kamloops and Kelowna hubs," said Ron Robison, WHL commissioner.
"We are excited to now have all four WHL divisions returning to play as it was our objective from the onset to deliver a season for all of our players.”
The Western Hockey League has been granted approval to host Hub Centers in Kamloops & Kelowna.
— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 2, 2021
DETAILS 📰 | https://t.co/J0rthipOe6 pic.twitter.com/CJXAXv8VRa
The dual hub option mode was determined to be the most appropriate to allow for the effective implementation of WHL Return to Play Protocols and the highest level of risk mitigation.
Clubs will be permitted to travel between the two hubs so that all five teams can play each other an appropriate number of times, but no stops are permitted between the two hubs.
Games will begin on Friday, March 26, which means players and staff from all five teams will begin quarantining this Friday before reporting to their respective hub a week later.
Everyone will be tested immediately upon arriving in Kelowna or Kamloops and will then be tested weekly throughout the season.
In order to ensure no additional strain is placed on public health, all clubs will provide private PCR testing through DynaLIFE Medical Labs.
It's considered the "gold standard" for COVID-19 testing and was utilized in the Edmonton bubble during the 2020 NHL playoffs and the 2021 World Junior Championship.
(Original story: March 2 @ 11:10 am) - It looks like the five British Columbian Western Hockey League teams will be playing hockey this season.
On Monday, Adrian Dix, BC’s health minister, said that a plan has been approved to allow the WHL to return to play in the province.
British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix says a plan has been approved in principle to allow the WHL to resume operations in the province.https://t.co/7YsutRylA1
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 2, 2021
It’s the final piece of the puzzle for the league, as the other three divisions all received the necessary approval to begin the shortened season over recent weeks.
The Alberta Division was the first to return to play, doing so with a handful of games this weekend.
The US Division, with five teams in Washington State, and the Eastern Division, with seven teams across Saskatchewan and Manitoba, will both begin their seasons in March.
Dix said that a “series of variances” are still required from public health authorities, but said he expects the Kamloops Blazers, Kelowna Rockets, Prince George Cougars, Vancouver Giants and Victoria Royals to all play hockey this season.
Details are still being ironed out and an official statement from the WHL could come as soon as this week, but here’s what we know so far.
The league’s proposal called for a “double bubble” of sorts in Kamloops and Kelowna.
Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton told NowMedia in February that the proposed plan would see the Cougars and Giants join the Blazers in Kamloops, while the Rockets and Royals played out of Kelowna.
There was no indication on how games between teams in the Kamloops bubble versus the Kelowna bubble would work.
In all likelihood, the BC Division teams will all play a 24-game regular season, as is the case for the league’s other 17 teams in the other three divisions.
However, since the BC Division won’t be able to play games until early April at the earliest, which will leave the province’s five teams playing catch up mode when it comes to games played.
NowMedia will provide more details on this story once official word of the approval comes down from the WHL.
