NBA To Suspend Season Following Tonight's Games pic.twitter.com/2PTx2fkLlW
— NBA (@NBA) March 12, 2020
"The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight's schedule of games until further notice. The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic."
The Toronto Raptors are currently in second place in the Eastern Conference with a 46-18 record. If the NBA doesn't play any more regular season games, forgoing the final 18 Raptors games, the Raptors would play the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the theoretical NBA playoffs.
The Utah Jazz has the reported player (Rudy Gobert) who has tested positive for coronavirus. The Raptors beat the Jazz 101-92 in Salt Lake City in Utah on Monday.
There is a lot more that we don't know about the NBA season. The NHL will will make a further statement today on what the league might do with its season.
After monitoring the risks around COVID-19, we've made the difficult decision to cancel the three remaining #HometownHockey festival stops: the City of North Vancouver, Campbell River & Edmonton.
— Rogers Hometown Hockey (@hometownhockey_) March 11, 2020
While disappointing, the well-being of the community & employees is a top priority.
The Hometown Hockey broadcasts will air with Ron MacLean and Tara Slone from the Rogers Sportsnet studios in Toronto.
Canada has been in a lot better shape than the United States in numbers and maturity of getting information to people. The Hometown Hockey events draw large crowds. Social distancing is difficult to do when you literally have a parade each week at these events.
Here is to hoping that North Vancouver, Campbell River (BC), and Edmonton get scheduled for the 2020-2021 NHL season, subject to a return of COVID-19 in the fall.
NHL the month in preview March 2020
CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage
The March 19 contest with the Montréal Canadiens in San Jose will be played with no fans. Santa Clara County has ordered no gatherings larger than 1,000 through the end of March due to the coronavirus concerns.
Chase Center and the classic Cow Palace in San Francisco (San Francisco County) would have been an option for the San Jose Sharks except the city of San Francisco now has a similar ban. Same goes for the Oakland Coliseum Arena (Alameda County) with a similar ban.
The Bell Centre would have been available to host the Canadiens and the Sharks since the world figure skating championships scheduled to be in Montréal have been cancelled.
The San Jose Sharks won't make the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. There will likely be Stanley Cup playoffs games played in front of no fans come April, depending on the potential spread of the disease in North America.
How Toronto recovered from the SARS impact
As we noted yesterday, COVID-19 was responsible for the postponement of the 2020 women's world hockey championship in Canada. The tournament was scheduled to start on March 31 in Halifax and Truro, Nova Scotia. Those cities will host the 2021 version.
#Seattle @Mariners forced to relocate opening games. BC Place in #Vancouver is close by but not a great option. Mariners played there years ago. @MLB
— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) March 11, 2020
BC Place in Vancouver hosted MLB exhibition games in 1984 (Toronto and Milwaukee), 1986 (Chicago Cubs, San Diego, Montréal, and Seattle), 1993 (Toronto, Seattle, Milwaukee, and Detroit), and 1994 (Toronto, Seattle, Montréal, and Colorado).
The Seattle Mariners are being forced to look for options for its opening series. Washington Governor Jay Inslee announced a ban on all large gatherings in the Seattle metro area through at least the end of March.
The team might play their games in the spring training facility in Peoria, Arizona. BC Place would offer a location closer to Seattle. BC Place might also be helpful for the MLS Seattle Sounders. The team postponed its March 21 home match against FC Dallas.
Twitter captures: @NBA; @hometownhockey_; @canadian_xing
photo credit: NHL
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