Turns out, Prince George won’t be hosting any NHL games in the near future.
B.C. Premier John Horgan announced today (June 10) that Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has approved the Vancouver Canucks’ plan to possibly host games this summer to help close the 2019-20 season.
Horgan also explained the government had tabled a ‘Cross-B.C.’ proposal where cities with Western Hockey League (WHL) teams could also provide arenas and infrastructure.
He said the approach listed Prince George, along with Kamloops, Kelowna and Victoria, as a community that could host games, but that idea was ultimately shut down.
“The NHL rejected that proposal and have gone to the 'hub-city' model where there’ll be one western conference city and one eastern conference city,” the Premier said during a news conference this afternoon.
“We’re very proud that the Canucks persevered, put together a very solid plan, rigorous back-and-forth with their health and training staff, Dr. Henry and her team, and I think they’ve come up with a pretty solid package that protects players, puts the public interest front and centre with respect to the quarantine, with respect to travel back-and-forth from hotels to the rink [...], but the NHL plan no longer includes rinks outside of Vancouver.”
.@jjhorgan says the NHL rejected the possibility of B.C. being a provincial hub to help close the 2019-20 season, which tabled potential games in WHL cities like Prince George | #CityOfPG @PGMatters pic.twitter.com/2LFU9ZT7C0
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) June 10, 2020
When Horgan publicly initialized the idea of using WHL arenas, like Prince George, to host NHL teams, the CN Centre was flattered and excited to be included in Premier’s comments.
However, Manager Glen Mikkelsen confirms a meeting never took place between May 13 and today’s announcement.
“Alas, the CN Centre was not consulted directly about NHL games coming to Prince George,” said Mikkelsen to PrinceGeorgeMatters.
“No doubt, there are many challenges to any NHL proposal to finish the season. And we were privileged to at least be a part of the considerations by Premier Horgan.”
Mikkelsen is wishing the NHL good luck in trying to bring its season back.
It's now up to the league to decide where to wrap up the year and as of this publication, Vancouver, Edmonton, Las Vegas and Los Angeles are the Pacific-Division cities up for consideration to host western-conference teams.
