With the WHL pushing their start back on multiple occasions, it was fair to wonder if the league, which is part of the top junior circuit in Canada, was actually going to get their season underway. The league has indeed announced a commitment to play the 2020-21 campaign, a season that will last 24 games. The start date remains to be determined (it had already been pushed back into February) and will be worked on in consultation with the various health authorities. The WHL has teams in four provinces and two states so that process will certainly take some time.
Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports (Twitter link) that the target is a late-February start with games being played exclusively on weekends with some teams potentially sharing arenas and US-based teams potentially being relocated to Canadian cities. That’s a lot to try to pull off over the next seven weeks.
This will certainly have an effect on NHL teams and their plans for their prospects in that league. Players from a CHL team (WHL, OHL, or QMJHL) are ineligible to play in the AHL until they’re 20 or have four years of major junior experience but with those leagues not playing or even scheduled at the moment, they can attend AHL training camps which are expected to begin later this month. Knowing that the WHL will eventually get underway means that those players won’t be able to be in the minors for long.
As things stand, plans for the other two major junior leagues remain uncertain although it wouldn’t be surprising to see the OHL try something similar. The QMJHL got their season underway back in October with teams playing anywhere between five and 16 games before the plug was pulled indefinitely.
That is worth a season?