Canadian Crossing

How did the Canadian Premier League complete a 2020 season and not the CFL?

Forge FC dominated the 2020 Canadian Premier League soccer championship with a solid 2-0 win over HFX Wanderers. The late goal was a fluke but did bring insurance. The Canadian Premier League championship game in Charlottetown was even on Fox Sports 2 in the United States, simulcasting the One network coverage. Recognised Andi Petrillo as part of the studio coverage.

Hamilton won't likely have a parade for the winning Forge FC team. Halifax isn't likely to have welcomed the Wanderers with thousands waiting for the plane to land.

Like the other sports, the Canadian Premier League set up a bubble, branded as The Island Games at the University of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown over a 5-week stretch from mid-August to mid-September.

Rise Above#CanPL l @ForgeFCHamilton pic.twitter.com/Z5nuequsAa

— CanPL (@CPLsoccer) September 19, 2020

The NFL is off and playing, though the league blew off the preseason. College football has been hit and miss, mostly miss so far. The CFL is on the sidelines, choosing not to play.

A 5-week season isn't a whole lot. MLS has been piecemeal and the Canadian teams are wandering nomads in the U.S. desert. The NHL and NBA bubbles have been stellar. MLB had a lot of troubles early with COVID-19 cases but played a lot of doubleheaders.

Canadians wanting football are stuck watching the NFL on TV

CFL cancels 2020 season

CFL dream: What if U.S. sports fans suddenly cared about the CFL

MLS had to draw a schedule with pencil in the Orlando tournament as 2 teams didn't even play in Orlando. MLB had teams sitting out for a week in a 60-game season. If we make it to the next 5 years and look back on 2020, the details of how these leagues played in a pandemic will be forgotten. They played somewhat safely or completely safely. That is the lasting memory.

The CFL fumbled and stumbled. We offered up a bubble concept with teams playing in Moncton, Saint John, and Halifax. We didn't consider the University of Prince Edward Island campus. The CFL could have built up strong favour playing in a part of Canada where the league wants to grow the game.

If CFL plays in 2020, have all the games in the Maritimes

2020 Touchdown Atlantic in Halifax: What would have been

We even offered up a 9-week season: every team plays each other once. The CFL attempt worked on a 6-game schedule and couldn't even pull that off.

Money was the reason we heard. The CFL might have had that money if they played a season first. Does the CPL have so much more money than the CFL?

Hamilton winning the CPL title can't compete with the Tiger-Cats winning the Grey Cup. The other 8 CFL teams won a Grey Cup in the 2010s: Hamilton lost to Winnipeg in the 2019 Grey Cup. That was the last CFL game until 2021, hopefully.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Football and soccer are different beasts in terms of turnaround and trying to get games played in a short window. Canada had the advantage of being in much better shape with COVID-19, especially Atlantic Canada.

The CPL has 8 teams vs. 9 for the CFL. The format was for all the teams to play each other in the beginning, just like my idea.

The NFL and CPL are not the CFL. They rolled up sleeves and made a 2020 season happen. The CFL will be in trouble even with playing a 2021 season. They will have to recover fan interest when fans may not be able to be in a stadium, even at half capacity. 750 fans watched the Montréal Impact in person. The NFL will conduct a grand experiment with fans at certain stadiums this fall. If there is a Michigan-Ohio State game this fall, how many fans will be in Columbus, Ohio?

The Stanley Cup, NBA Finals trophy, World Series trophy, and likely the Super Bowl championship will be awarded. The Grey Cup will collect dust. If the Canadian Premier League could figure out how to make a 2020 season work, the Canadian Football League should have tried harder to be more creative to get a 2020 season on the books.

photo credit: Canadian Premier League
Twitter capture: @CPLsoccer

Canadians wanting football are stuck watching the NFL on TV

The Buffalo Bills have a significant number of Canadian season ticket holders. The Bills have announced that money will be refunded accordingly as long as the border is closed.

The Bills aren't allowing any fans at its first two home games at Bills Stadium in accordance with New York state guidelines.

Buffalo opened up its home season yesterday with the New York Jets. The next home game is September 27 against the Los Angeles Rams. Yesterday marked the first time Buffalo had major league baseball and football in the area at the same time.

We noted that those in Buffalo couldn't get the Toronto Blue Jays on television. The Buffalo Sabres had a limited deal with Bell Media to get their games in the immediate southern Ontario area from 2013-2016.

Toronto fans of the Buffalo Bills can easily watch the team. The sim sub usually ends up on CFTO-TV Channel 9, the CTV station in Toronto. Fans with an antenna can get the games via WIVB-TV 4, CBS in Buffalo, and WUTV, Fox 29 in Buffalo.

The Detroit Lions get a lot of Canadian fans to cross the border in season ticket holders and fans for individual games. The Windsor bus systems runs buses straight to Ford Field on game days. The Seattle Seahawks get a lot of Canadian fans even if the drive is longer than Windsor to Detroit.

Some NFL teams are allowed to have home fans if their state's rules are more lenient. The Miami Dolphins are scheduled to let in 13,000 people for its first home game.

NFL fans in Canada could travel to the U.S. to watch the games. The problems are that they have to fly to their destination and have to quarantine for 14 days when they get back.

Canadians can easily get their games on television with no border crossings.

CFL dream: What if U.S. sports fans suddenly cared about the CFL

Super Bowl LIV through the eyes of Canada

Toronto fans can finally root for the Buffalo Bills in the NFL playoffs

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has changed the sports world. The CFL cancelled its season in great part because they couldn't let in significant crowds. Quebec has a 250 maximum; the MLS Montréal Impact allowed that number in for recent games against Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Long-time readers will remember that the Buffalo Bills used to play games in Toronto at Rogers Centre. That certainly couldn't have happened in 2020.

The Buffalo Bills got snowed out in 2014 and moved a game to Detroit. The thought of moving the game to Toronto was thwarted since not all the players had passports.

CanadianCrossing.com NFL coverage

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Despite the attendance issues in the Bills Toronto series, the NFL is very popular in Canada. Without the CFL, the NFL will grow in stature, especially in Toronto and Vancouver.

U.S. NFL fans might think they get a decent amount of games on a Sunday. Canadians get way more games thanks to CTV stations across the country (with time shifting on cable or satellite) and TSN. Now that TSN doesn't have CFL games, Canadians may get even more NFL games.

@KennyAlbert has been in a safe bubble in #Edmonton for the @NHL playoffs. The @NFL made up a rule where anyone who has been outside the U.S. has to #quarantine for 14 days to call a game on site. #Canada is safer than any NFL city right now. https://t.co/ljs9aEMSTr

— Chad Rubel (@canadian_xing) September 12, 2020

Kenny Albert has been in one of the safest places in North America in the NHL bubble in Edmonton for NBCSN. Albert was scheduled to leave the bubble to cover the NFL for Fox. The NFL has had this peculiar rule, even more odd since the NFL plays in London and Mexico City and used to play in Toronto. Albert flew from Edmonton through Toronto to Detroit when he found out en route that he wouldn't be able to call the NFL game.

Fox replaced Albert for the game in Detroit with Dick Stockton, who reportedly came in from Arizona. Edmonton, even outside the bubble, is safer than Arizona.

We profiled Kenny Albert's life in the bubble. The NHL gets full credit for how the bubbles in Edmonton and Toronto have gone. The NFL could learn something from the NHL.

The NFL rule doesn't specifically say Canada, yet the national announcers are either in Canada (Albert) or the United States (everyone else). Sam Rosen, who is calling NHL playoff games on the radio, isn't on Fox's list of NFL announcers.

logo credit: Buffalo Bills/NFL
Twitter capture: @canadian_xing

CFL cancels 2020 season

The #CFL announces that there will not be a shortened season played this fall.

FULL STATEMENT | https://t.co/iq4JNXU20p pic.twitter.com/OE4R4AHZdQ

— CFL (@CFL) August 17, 2020

The CFL had a lot of good momentum. A decade where 8 of the 9 CFL teams won a Grey Cup (sorry, Hamilton Tiger-Cats). A Touchdown Atlantic in Halifax, finally.

Unlike the other major leagues, the CFL needed fans in the stands to be viable. Even in Canada, that was not going to happen.

The CFL announced earlier today that there will not be a 2020 season. This is the first year in the modern CFL era (1958-) where there will be no season, the first time since 1919 that the Grey Cup will not be awarded.

No strike or lockout; just the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The final straw was when the federal government turned down the league's request for a $30-million, interest-free loan. The CFL turned down a loan from the Business Development Bank of Canada over the high interest rate.

There had been talk about a hub scenario in Winnipeg but the financial part didn't work.

In May, CFL Commissioner Randy Ambroisie told a House of Commons standing committee on finance earlier this month that the most likely scenario for the CFL is a cancelled 2020 season. "Ours is a big brand but not a wealthy business," Ambrosie told the committee. "Unlike large U.S.-based leagues, our biggest source of revenue is not TV — it's ticket sales."

The approach seemed a bit defeatist at the time but might have been more honest than we knew at the time.

If CFL plays in 2020, have all the games in the Maritimes

2020 Touchdown Atlantic in Halifax: What would have been

Our approach that playing a limited season (8 games, not 6) and then asking for money would have made more sense. Since crowds wouldn't be an issue, playing in the relatively safe area of the Maritimes would have grown the sport for the future.

Having the visual of Halifax, Moncton, and Saint John would have been amazing, similar to what Toronto and Edmonton are enjoying with the NHL. Canada has proven to be safer than the United States on COVID-19.

What sports will look like on Canadian soil in 2020

CFL dream: What if U.S. sports fans suddenly cared about the CFL

Even though this punch in the gut was coming for some time, the idea that all these other sports could come back in some form and not the CFL feels very cruel. I used to cover sports and sports broadcasting for a living beyond this blog. The world is filled with so many sports that I don't care about anymore. The CFL was a grand exception. We have to hope that 2021 will offer a season of some kind. Please.

Chris Cuthbert picks Stanley Cup final over TSN, jumps to Rogers Sportsnet

I don’t know, but I would be happy to if asked. https://t.co/ezlBCS2ipD

— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) August 5, 2020

Assuming a 2021 CFL season, TSN and the league will still have to answer on who will call the big CFL games. The Gord Miller tweet gave some hope that he would be part of the mix. Rod Smith would have been high on the list. The announcer landscape may be very different in 2021.

We know giving up the CFL was a difficult decision for Chris Cuthbert. Cuthbert made the right decision at least in the short term.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Labour Day. Canadian Thanksgiving. Sundays in November. As bad as the hurt is now, those benchmarks are coming soon. The hurt will get worse. The CFL is hopeful for 2021 but there are no guarantees in life, on and off the field.

Twitter captures: @CFL; @GMillerTSN
logo credit: CFL

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif chooses health care over the NFL

My decision regarding the 2020 NFL season pic.twitter.com/jrY3nZfNWO

— Laurent D. Tardif (@LaurentDTardif) July 25, 2020

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif — Montréal native and Kansas City offensive guard — was in a quandry. The good doctor wasn't in a residency program so he had to stay on the medical sidelines. Given that Montréal was the hardest hit city in Quebec and Canada, Duvernay-Tardif chose to cheer on medical personnel from the sidelines rather than play for the Alouettes.

When we had our CFL dream back in June, we figured Laurent Duvernay-Tardif would have a dilemma about whether to play football or stick with health care. We figured he would choose health care over football.

"If I am to take risks, I will do it caring for patients."

Duvernay-Tardif has been working at Centre Gertrude-Lafrance, a facility in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, south of Montréal, according to social media accounts. He earned a medical degree from McGill University. Long-term care homes in the Montréal area suffered some of the worst damage from COVID-19 in all of Canada.

"Laurent is a person with a lot of convictions and has always been true to his beliefs and what he thinks is the right thing to do for him," said Sasha Ghavami, Duvernay-Tardif's agent and longtime friend.

Duvernay-Tardif is not the only relatively well-known figure with a medical degree to help out. Joannie Rochette, Olympic bronze medal winning figure skater (2010, Vancouver), also has a recent medical degree and is working in a care home.

The NFL and NFLPA agreed to offer a US$150,000 stipend to players such as Duvernay-Tardif who opt out of the upcoming season. Duvernay-Tardif is the first NFL player to opt out of the 2020 season.

CFL dream: What if U.S. sports fans suddenly cared about the CFL

Super Bowl LIV through the eyes of Canada

CanadianCrossing.com NFL coverage

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, born in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, QC, started 2020 as only the fourth non-kicking Canadian to start in a Super Bowl. Duvernay-Tardif won a Super Bowl ring for the Kansas City NFL team.

Twitter capture and photo credit: @LaurentDTardif

2020 Touchdown Atlantic in Halifax: What would have been

The CFL had plans for a much larger Touchdown Atlantic experience culminating in the first regular season CFL game in Nova Scotia on Saturday. The game had sold out, something that didn't always happen.

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic might take out the first year without a Canadian football season since 1918. COVID-19 did take out the 2020 Touchdown Atlantic game and celebration.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts were scheduled to play at Saint Mary's University in Halifax. Chris Cuthbert did regret in his departure from TSN that he never got to call a regular-season game in Halifax. Cuthbert's TSN debut was a preseason game in Halifax.

They were bringing in temporary seats to fill the capacity to 10,000. There would have been a festive atmosphere given the proximity to downtown Halifax.

The Touchdown Atlantic has had regular season games in Moncton, New Brunswick in 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2019. A scheduled 2006 exhibition game in Halifax was cancelled in 2006 since the Ottawa Renegades folded. Saint John, New Brunswick hosted preseason games in 1986 and 1987 before Touchdown Atlantic was a concept.

Having a regular season game in Halifax was supposed to be a major step in the formation of the Atlantic Schooners.

The CFL had planned a 3-day “mini Grey Cup festival” featuring music, parties, and family-friendly fun. Today would have been Day 3. I have not been to a Grey Cup week but reportedly the people who have the most fun are the Atlantic Schooners gatherings. They don't even have a team. Yet.

What sports will look like on Canadian soil in 2020

CFL dream: What if U.S. sports fans suddenly cared about the CFL

If CFL plays in 2020, have all the games in the Maritimes

We did propose the CFL play a limited season in Moncton, Saint John, and Halifax to bring attention to the sport in Atlantic Canada. Not a genius but the timing of a July and August season in that part of Canada would have been glorious.

There wouldn't have been fans at the games but the attention to that part of Canada would have looked so good on television.

I visited Moncton and New Brunswick in 2013 in part because of Touchdown Atlantic. That was a wonderful trip that had a CFL game in the mix. I have seen a lot of Canada in part because of the CFL.

Canadian travel bubbles could boost tourism within Canada

CFL travels have sent me to every league city

CanadianCrossing.com New Brunswick coverage

CanadianCrossing.com Nova Scotia coverage

CanadianCrossing.com travel coverage

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

We know the next full and relatively normal CFL season will have a Touchdown Atlantic in Halifax. The celebration may be extra special because of what has happened. I would have done some morning shopping at the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market, a short distance from the stadium. A good time of year to get a real lobster roll (butter, not mayonnaise). The streets will be filled with the green of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. They travel well. There will be some Toronto Argonauts fans, too. I remember seeing Ottawa Rough Riders jerseys in 2013, a year before the Ottawa RedBlacks made their debut.

There will even be some Atlantic Schooners jerseys in the mix.

photo credits: CFL; Google maps

CFL notebook: Edmonton CFL team is now the Edmonton Football Team

Edmonton Football Team or EE Football Team. We've seen a similar placeholder for the McGill University men's sports in Montréal, known as the Team.

The Edmonton CFL franchise aka Edmonton Football Team made the official announcement that the team was dropping the racist nickname the team has had.

There is no timetable for a new nickname. The Team will remain so through 2020.

We want the Elks to be the new nickname; other names out there are Empire and Energy. They would be better than the old ones but not as cool as Elks.

Washington NFL nickname switch should inspire a similar move from the Edmonton CFL team

2019 CFL Week 16 preview

Winnipeg has reportedly beat out Regina (Saskatchewan) and Calgary to be the hub city for the CFL bubble in 2020. Manitoba public health and safety officials still need to approve the deal.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister stepped up with a $2.5 million offer to cover accommodations, transportation, and a number of costs. Saskatchewan offered $3 million afterward. Calgary also had a bid to be the hub city.

The CFL notes that a new collective bargaining agreement with the CFL Players' Association needs to happen as well as significant federal government support.

The goal is to have some kind of training camp and start games in September. Still a long way to go.

The players will have the right to opt out of the 2020 season without penalty. Brandon Banks has said he won't wear a helmet until 2021. DaVaris Daniels gave CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie until July 3. James Wilder Jr. got a job and retired. Banks has some pull given his status as the 2019 most outstanding player.

If CFL plays in 2020, have all the games in the Maritimes

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

The 60-game schedule and Grey Cup would be in Winnipeg. This translates to each team playing 6 regular season games. Only a single CFL team would be eliminated.

The premise behind this is limited the extent of the bubble. Having a 8-game season allows every team to play each other. Having a regular season, even a 6-game season, will be embarrassing if 8 of the 9 teams make the playoffs. If the Argos are that eliminated team, the league will suffer embarrassment in the country's largest city.

With a 6-game season and an extra round of playoffs, that plan only cuts the bubble by a week. The NFL just eliminated its preseason. The CFL could do the same and get in an extra week or 2 for the regular season.

We see that NHL announcers are entering the bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton. If the CFL announcers did the same, they might have to do other duties from within the bubble, such as Dustin Nielson's radio show in Edmonton or Gord Miller switching bubbles once NBCSN doesn't need him for Stanley Cup playoff duties.

photo credits: Edmonton Football Team; me

Washington NFL nickname switch should inspire a similar move from the Edmonton CFL team

Editor's note: Reports on July 16 note that the Edmonton CFL team will drop its racist nickname.

The Washington NFL team will have a new nickname, the first change to the team nickname since 1933. The R-word finally will be gone.

The Atlanta MLB team sent out an e-mail to season ticket holders Sunday saying the nickname would stay but would reevaluate the "tomahawk chop" chant. I was at a MLB game in Atlanta many years ago; that sound will haunt me for the rest of my life.

The Chicago NHL team also said its nickname will not be changed. Their rationale is they are honouring Black Hawk of Illinois' Sac & Fox Nation (they aren't) and they will expand awareness. Difficult to expand awareness when you hardly show any awareness now. The logo is the worst.

The Edmonton CFL team should change its nickname.

CanadianCrossing.com has a strict policy to not use the sports team nicknames that are offensive or demeaning. This includes the Atlanta MLB team, the Cleveland MLB team, the Edmonton CFL team, and the Chicago NHL team.

When the Washington NFL team came to Toronto to play the Buffalo Bills in 2011, we avoided the nickname.

The Esks is already a part of the team moniker even if we know what that is short for saying. Our suggestion is to switch one letter and be the Edmonton Elks. The Elks nickname was used by the Edmonton Rugby Foot-ball Club for the 1922 season. Unlike the Washington NFL team, no need to change the Edmonton logo.

The elk is a dominant animal in that part of Alberta and is definitely part of the eating experience in Alberta.

The Edmonton CFL team issue is not at the top of the worst of the nicknames. The Washington nickname is at the top of the list. Team founder George Preston Marshall renamed the Boston team (the team shared the nickname with the NL team at that point, the same team that is now in Atlanta) the dreaded R-word in 1933 and moved the team to D.C. in 1937.

High school and university nicknames have been easier to change with alumni having more clout than season ticket holders. McGill University in Montréal changed its derogatory nickname to the Team for the previous athletic season and a new nickname will be announced soon.

Longtime Toronto Blue Jays radio announcer Jerry Howarth went out of his way to not say the Cleveland MLB team nickname, a difficulty especially during the 2016 American League Championship Series.

Some white people have argued that the Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota Vikings, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are also problematic. Canucks is slang for Canadians. Generally, this falls in the Montréal Canadiens category. Not the greatest nickname but not so much as to be offensive or demeaning. The orca whale that is in the logo could be a future nickname switch. 

The nicknames tied to native people are more hurtful because of how society treated them then and now. If all the offensive nicknames against indigenous people were removed, logos and all, then we can think about the Vikings.

2019 CFL Week 16 preview

Australian comic Jim Jeffries took on the topic last fall on the The Jim Jeffries Show on Comedy Central in the United States and CTV Comedy Channel in Canada. 

We posted the video as well. Jeffries talks to Edmonton CFL fans and actual Inuit people in the segment. 

A letter to NFL fans who might want to follow the CFL

CFL kicks up Diversity Is Strength campaign

Michael Sam will find Montreal a great place to be a trailblazer

The CFL is about diversity. When the NFL went out of their way not to have black quarterbacks, the CFL welcomed them. Warren Moon is the most famous example but not the only one.

The Michael Sam story didn't last long in Montréal but not because of bigotry. 

The Edmonton team said last week they would be "accelerating our ongoing process of review" following calls by sponsors. That includes longtime sponsor Belair Direct, one of the team's 13 premier partners, saying its use of the derogatory nickname is no longer appropriate.

We would love to write the story of the Edmonton CFL team changing to the Elks or whatever nickname they choose.

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Would be really nice to watch a CFL game and have the announcer say, "The Elks look like they recovered the fumble." The current nickname is a fumble. Recover the fumble.

photo credit: Edmonton CFL team

What sports will look like on Canadian soil in 2020

The NHL is setting up shop in Toronto and Edmonton as the NHL hub cities, unless they aren't. The Toronto Blue Jays will train at Rogers Centre, though we still don't know how exhibition games or the regular season will work.

Those decisions didn't come easily given Canada's 14-day quarantine. Exceptions were made because the concept of quarantine now includes quarantine as a group.

We don't know whether Toronto will have a MLB/NHL overlap due to the uncertainty of the MLB scenario. The Blue Jays could play in Buffalo where you can see Canada from Sahlen Field in downtown Buffalo. The MLB team wants to avoid Dunedin, the Blue Jays spring training home, due to the huge numbers of COVID-19 cases.

The Canadian MLS teams are playing in Orlando for the next few weeks. If the Blue Jays are allowed to play regular season games in Toronto, Toronto FC, Montréal Impact, and Vancouver Whitecaps might get the same exception. The Blue Jays plan to have the other team in the hotel on the grounds of Rogers Centre. The MLS teams will need their own lodging plans. Hub cities and training are at an easier level than regular season games.

Given that some family members can't reunite between Canada and the United States, having professional athletes cross can seem unfair.

We finally heard from the CFL with speculation about a Hamilton/Burlington hub city concept as well as Winnipeg. IG Field is near the University of Winnipeg so housing the players in dorms would help. We suggested the Maritimes earlier this year. The sites in Moncton, Saint John, and Halifax are around university campuses.

Canadian sports notebook: Toronto and Edmonton still NHL hub city options

If CFL plays in 2020, have all the games in the Maritimes

As we learned in the discussion with the NHL and British Columbia, safety of Canadians is the highest priority. The idea is that fans won't see players in bars and restaurants in Toronto and Edmonton and soccer fans won't see their favourite athletes in Montréal, Vancouver, and Toronto.

If families of NHL players are in the Canadian Rockies, as per Jason Kenney's infamous Edmonton video, they would do so after their player's team has been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. In the NHL hub setup, each team has about 50 people (players, coaches, etc.). After 3-5 games, ⅓ of those people will leave the bubble. After another 4-7 games, ⅓ of the original total will leave the bubble. If the Blue Jays play regular season games on Canadian soil, there will be a proverbial dance in downtown Toronto as you can see on the above map.

The international NHL focus will be on a pair of Canadian cities. As we've seen on the U.S. side, we rarely see much of the Canadian cities during typical Stanley Cup playoff coverage. The announcers aren't likely to be on site in Toronto and Edmonton. We pretty much felt that NBCSN carried a game involving Edmonton at Toronto where the announcers weren't in Canada. This time, we understand why the announcers would not be in Canada.

The NFL likely won't have a preseason so no chance of a Canadian city hosting a NFL preseason game in 2020.

U Sports has cancelled 6 fall national championships, including the Vanier Cup for football. Minor league hockey is on the shelf until further notice.

The Raptors won't get any home games. 4 of the 6 NHL teams from Canada not from hub cities won't get home games. Even if Toronto and Edmonton will be at home, the players have to be part of the bubble and there will not be fans.

map credit: Google maps

Canadian sports notebook: Toronto and Edmonton still NHL hub city options

#Canucks statement on @NHL hub city bid. pic.twitter.com/qs6v4EOO7w

— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) June 25, 2020

Vancouver honourably withdrew from being a NHL hub city because, well, British Columbia considered the NHL approach on those who tested positive to be unsafe. Gary Bettman doesn't like to be told that he is wrong.

"Our advice and our direction was that if there was a positive case that arose, that we would do what we do with all cases that we have here – that we would investigate and there needed to be a contingency in case there were other people that were identified as ill," B.C. chief medical officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said. "It might mean suspension of part of a series for a period of time until that could be done."

Toronto and Edmonton on the Canadian side are still in the hunt along with Las Vegas, Chicago, and Los Angeles. 4 American markets were the first cuts earlier in the process: Pittsburgh, Dallas, Columbus, and Minneapolis/St. Paul. We originally predicted Edmonton and Las Vegas. As we've learned in the Vancouver situation, we would like Canada to get the NHL hub cities but we also want the people of Canada to be safe.

Now that Canadian cities have the green light from the federal government, Canadian NHL teams can train on Canadian soil.

The low COVID-19 rates and the even lower Canadian dollar give Canada an advantage.

It’s the obvious choice to bring the @NHL to #Edmonton.

We look forward to welcoming the league and players here to Alberta to take in the beautiful province we have to offer. pic.twitter.com/kp0iN86vCP

— Jason Kenney (@jkenney) June 22, 2020

Alberta premier Jason Kenney, already known for propaganda with the Canadian Energy Centre, introduced a video for families of NHL players coming to Edmonton. The video is lovely and full of real places in Alberta, none of which is anywhere near Edmonton. These places are near Calgary, but Calgary has the oldest arena in the NHL not the newest arena.

Edmonton would be a great choice for a NHL hub city, but not for the reasons Kenney unveiled.

Jason Kenney, Alberta United Conservative Party launch Canadian Energy Centre propaganda site

CanadianCrossing.com NHL coverage

Alberta pitches NHL hub city without showing Edmonton (CBC News)

The Ottawa Senators went into the NHL draft with a rather good chance at the #1 pick, given that the Sens controlled the #2 best odds (its own pick) and #3 best odds (via San Jose). The Senators fell to the #3 pick (via San Jose) and #5 pick (Ottawa) while a playoff team will get the #1 pick.

Canadian Alexis LaFreniere is the consensus #1 pick. Last season, LaFreniere had 35 goals and 77 assists in 52 games for Rimouski in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Though the 8 playoff losing teams in the opening round get an equal chance, you have to wonder if that pick ends up with a prominent American team (Pittsburgh, Chicago). Theoretically, every Canadian team but Ottawa is eligible if they lose in the qualifying round. Perhaps the lottery was sincere, but the league doesn't have a good reputation. Pittsburgh magically ended up with Sidney Crosby after a NHL lockout. We aren't saying the NHL cheated: we are saying if the league cheated, this is exactly the scenario that would have happened.

If the NHL does not resume playing this season, the bottom 8 teams based on points percentage would be in a lottery for the top pick. Montréal and Winnipeg are the only Canadian teams in this category.

The 2020 NHL draft lottery was originally supposed to be in Montréal.

CanadianCrossing.com NBA coverage

Vinsanity has come to an end of his NBA career. Vince Carter finally retired as a NBA player after 22 seasons.

Carter was drafted by Golden State but instantly traded to Toronto for Antawn Jamison in the 1998 NBA draft. He was known as a dunk master and earned the nickname Air Canada. Carter led the Raptors to the team's first-ever playoff appearance in 2000 and first playoff series win in 2001.

Carter won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. He later was traded to New Jersey in late 2004. Carter was an All-Star every season when he was with the Raptors.

Carter won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2000. The win included a 360° windmill.

Carter is the first NBA player to appear in 4 different decades in 22 seasons, also a league record. He also played for New Jersey, Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, Memphis, Sacramento, and Atlanta.

Vince Carter became a reason for Raptors fans to get excited and made a huge impact on the history and viability of the Toronto Raptors franchise.

The Toronto Raptors have never retired a number. Carter was loved while in Toronto, booed heavily after he was traded, and eventually loved again. #15 in the rafters would look really nice.

CanadianCrossing.com MLB coverage

CanadianCrossing.com soccer coverage

We are still waiting to hear about sports on Canadian soil.

The Toronto Blue Jays are heading back to Toronto. The Blue Jays want to train and play their regular-season games in Toronto. The team has a good chance of training at Rogers Centre. The team would stay in the hotel at Rogers Centre and quarantine in that fashion similar to what the NHL might do in Canada.

The team had been in Dunedin with Florida recording extremely high COVID-19 case numbers lately. Sahlen Field in Buffalo, home of their Triple A team, could enter the mix if the Jays can't play regular season games in Toronto.

The Canadian MLS teams will play in a tournament in Orlando. Then, Toronto FC, Montréal Impact, and the Vancouver Whitecaps would have trouble playing games in their home parks or country. The NBA Toronto Raptors are playing in Orlando.

The CFL had prided itself in modern times for not having a regular season game lost to a strike or lockout. The pandemic has postponed the start of the 2020 CFL season. We aren't even sure of a season at this point.

The CFL might play in September or not at all. James Wilder Jr., who signed with Montréal, couldn't wait any longer and took a job. DaVaris Daniels, who signed with Toronto, has given CFL Commissioner Randy Ambroisie until Friday to announce plans for a 2020 CFL season.

The other leagues have plans that may or may not happen. The CFL has said "September" but otherwise has been vague.

TSN added a new show called CFL2020 running Fridays at 7:30 pm Eastern before the CFL Encore Fridays. For unknown reasons, ESPN+ hasn't picked up CFL programming via TSN during the pandemic.

For those outside Canada, you can find 2019 highlights on YouTube and discuss whether Hamilton would join the other 8 CFL teams in a 21st century championship and who should replace Chris Cuthbert as the #1 play-by-play person on CFL telecasts.

Chris Cuthbert picks Stanley Cup final over TSN, jumps to Rogers Sportsnet

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

Rogers Sportsnet did imply there would be more broadcasting changes after the Chris Cuthbert acquisition. We don't want to report a name without an official announcement but there is apparently a new free agent formerly with Rogers with NHL and CFL television experience.

Speaking of Rogers, Rogers Sportsnet One has debuted a new interview series Top of Her Game with Tara Slone. This is a show that is long overdue and Slone is an ideal host. Profiling women in sports needs to be a part of the current sports landscape.

The news release notes some of the early guests: Stephanie McMahon and Charlotte Flair of the WWE; NHL executive vice-president Kim Davis; Waneek Horn-Miller, the first Mohawk woman to compete in the Summer Olympics; Mathea Olin, Canada’s first Pan Am Games surfing medallist; and Chantal Petitclerc, Canada’s most decorated Paralympian.

The series runs on Sundays at 6:30 pm Eastern on Sportsnet One and is also available on Sportsnet Now.

Twitter captures: @canucks; @jkenney
photo credit: CBC News
video credit: YouTube/CFL

CFL dream: What if U.S. sports fans suddenly cared about the CFL

Editor's note: Today would have been opening day for the 2020 CFL season. The BC Lions would have been in Edmonton tonight. A rare early-season all-Eastern battle with Toronto at Ottawa would have started out on Friday night followed by the Montréal Alouettes in Calgary. The 2019 Grey Cup rematch would have had Winnipeg in Hamilton on Saturday night.

This is a dream about a scenario where the CFL would have been high on the North American sports radar.

The COVID-19 circumstances had gone over better in Canada than in the United States. The only major concern was getting the American and other non-Canadian players across the border.

Those players met up in Chicago. The players had their temperature checked before boarding the plane in Chicago. There were pleasantries shared on the planes even with masks. Some of them had allegiances through university conferences. Some of them were old or new teammates on their CFL teams./p>

The players were flown to Saskatoon, near the hub cities of Regina and Winnipeg, where they could be quarantined for 14 days. Saskatoon has a lot of temptations but the players were limited to Saskatoon berries, great in Saskatoon berry pie.

The Western teams would play at Mosaic Stadium in Regina while the Eastern teams set up at IG Field in Winnipeg.

Teams showed up in uniforms and did not shower until they got back to their hotels.

The U.S. situation was so bad that opening up their leagues was more of a pipe dream. The CFL was the first major league in North America to open us. ESPN was drooling at the idea of the CFL starting on time. The Korean baseball games were drawing decent ratings. You can only charge so much commercial time in the middle of the night.

Korean baseball was Beyonce with strep throat in a land with no music. Canadian football was a Destiny's Child full of healthy Beyonces. The games were in English, shown in prime time, and best of all, the folks in Bristol didn't have to be involved.

What did surprise Canadian football enthusiasts in the United States — yes, there were a few — was that ESPN agreed to carry every single game. Most of the telecasts had been on ESPN+. The folks at ESPN were anxious for live sports. Very. Anxious.

ESPN decided to also carry the TSN pregame show. The network moved its NFL people to do a 1-hour show each week to spotlight the U.S. university kids and their connections to the CFL.

Both the CFL and NFL had Thursday Night Football games though the Canadian musicians at halftime were new to the American audience.

Some American football fans picked teams based on colours (colors). Pittsburgh fans pulled hard for Hamilton because of the black and gold. Others went for the style of quarterback, whether that was Bo Levi Mitchell, Mike Reilly, or Vernon Adams Jr. Some picked teams based on Canadian cities where they had been.

The CFL had an interesting "problem." There were NFL players who wanted to play in the CFL. Badly. Canadians in the NFL got top priority. There weren't that many, but still. The league couldn't bring everyone in, but that made for some fun headlines.

Dr. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif — Montréal native and Kansas City offensive guard — was in a quandry. The good doctor wasn't in a residency program so he had to stay on the medical sidelines. Given that Montréal was the hardest hit city in Quebec and Canada, Duvernay-Tardif chose to cheer on medical personnel from the sidelines rather than play for the Alouettes.

ESPN show hosts spent time wondering whether the Hamilton Tiger-Cats could rise up and snap the league's longest championship drought of 21 years. Chris Berman came out of retirement with a few too many Anthony Calvillo references.

Some fans had online battles over whether Rod Black was over the top or Matt Dunigan a little too happy to be in the booth. They knew the difference between Rod Black and Rod Smith. Hockey fans were thrilled to hear Gord Miller call any sport.

The attendance was a concern: 16,000 were allowed in Regina with 14,000 in Winnipeg. This wasn't ideal but Canada had done so well with stopping the spread of the disease. Fans wore masks and were encouraged to make noise not with their mouths. Watermelons on heads was discouraged but not completely stopped.

Fans were drawn by lottery to attend the games. They were strongly encouraged to donate food to the Purlator people to help those Canadians who were having trouble getting food in a pandemic.

SportsCentre and SportsCenter were happy to give enhanced postgame coverage of the CFL. ESPN even got permission to show a bit of Jay and Dan from TSN to do U.S. specific CFL coverage. You might remember Jay and Dan worked at Fox Sports in the United States.

The CFL often gets lost in summertime but there were no other sports. Americans jumped on the bandwagon. The ratings were good; they might have been better had more bars been open in the States. The CFL got an unexpected financial boost from sales of team hats and clothing.

Some fans were concerned about how scoring went. Rod Black, Gord Miller, and Dustin Nielson helped out knowing more Americans were watching the CFL. The telecasts were a little awkward since the announcers were at home. The camera people were mostly people who lived in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The idea was to limit the number of people affected by the games and telecasts. The announcing teams had so much chemistry that they handled the difficulties well. The announcers met with teams via Zoom to get notes on the teams that week.

The CFL ratings and notice really jumped up on Labour Day weekend. The NFL and college football couldn't get going. Americans figured out the difference between Winnipeg and Saskatchewan and picked sides the day before Labour Day. Travel was difficult for Americans so they watched the Battle of Ontario and the Battle of Alberta.

2020 CFL preseason schedule

If CFL plays in 2020, have all the games in the Maritimes

CanadianCrossing.com CFL coverage

I woke up at that part of the dream but you get the idea. Americans might stop carrying about the CFL when their other sports return but temporary interest would have been a fun phenomenon.

If only Canada could have done as well as New Zealand, we would have a somewhat normal CFL season in 2020.

If the CFL starts in September and the NFL starts on time, the CFL will be even further lost in the U.S. sports landscape. The NFL is more likely to be able to play without fans as opposed to the CFL.

photo credit: me