RENAUD LAVOIE REPORTING THAT TORONTO AND EDMONTON ARE THE HUB CITIES

IT’S NOT AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT BUT IT’S SOMETHING…

It looks like safety beat out fun and Edmonton is in as the Western hub city, while Toronto has seemed to be a virtual lock this entire time. Given the situation south of the border this seems to be the safest way to ensure that all the games get played.

As for the second part of that tweet, getting the CBA situation figured out is no small task and could still leave us waiting a significant amount of time for any kind of announcement on what comes next. While the CBA talks have progressed relatively quickly, the devil is often in the details, and that is what is being figured out now.

Assuming this is what happens, this is hockey returning in the safest possible way and one where I think we can trust the government would step in and shut it down if it became unsafe at some point.

Wonder if the NHL will choose Canada Day to make the announcement that they are going with two Canadian hub cities? Probably not. If the CBA is tied into what comes next there is no reason to believe we’ll hear officially on this any time soon.