Canadian Division: Should the NHL’s COVID Creation Stay?
The NHL’s introduction of the Canadian Division brought ample amounts of excitement to hockey this year. The idea of seeing iconic Canadian rivalries continuously throughout the season provided much-needed hope to this upcoming NHL season which has been plagued with mystery due to COVID-19. While the circumstances surrounding why this division came to be is very obvious, it is still fun to look at why this division could be worthwhile keeping around.
Due to Canada’s strict border policies, it would have been hard for American and Canadian teams to play each other this season. Knowing this, the NHL came up with the idea for an all Canadian division. A glaring negative from this division is the lack of diversity when it comes to playing other teams. While the “Battle of Alberta” or the “Battle of Ontario” will never get old, nine games of Vancouver playing Ottawa may start to feel repetitive. The loss of major rivalry games such as Montreal-Boston, Toronto-Boston, and so on also make this division feel less glamorous. This is only from the fan’s perspective, yet the players have it much worse.
While not having to quarantine when crossing the border is a positive, the increased traveling will surely start to impact players and make them more fatigued. The trade deadline and trades as a whole also have to be questioned. Since players will have to quarantine when going to Canada, will this result in more Canadian teams making trades? We already saw the impact the border had on signings earlier this year, as it was reported that Zdeno Chara was considering signing with the Montreal Canadians before realizing problems regarding COVID-19.
While these negative aspects may affect reasoning to bring back this division, one could argue that the positives will outway the negatives. Firstly, the viewership of these games will be extremely high due to Canadians wanting to tune in to any Canadian team. This will help boost Sportsnet and TSN’s viewership and revenue.
Another thing to note is the Ottawa Senators. The Senators have been struggling to fill up their arena for years. If this season were to continue to where fans were allowed to attend games, Ottawa should have a rise in attendance. Toronto and Montreal fans flock to the Canadian Tire Centre to watch their team play Ottawa at a lower price, and with increased games against those teams, increased attendance overall should follow.
Other positives would be seeing heated Canadian rivalries become the forefront in the NHL. Those being the “Battle of Ontario”, the “Battle of Alberta”, Toronto against any team, and so on.
So while it makes sense why the NHL has said this league is a one-time occurrence, creating an all Canadian division that sticks around for more than one year has a lot of room for growth, and the potential to bring in more money for financially struggling teams such as the Ottawa Senators.
