Photo: OHL
The Ontario Hockey League (OHL) has established February 4 as the new start date for the 2020-21 season. Training camps will start on January 23rd. The season will be shortened to 40 games.
OHL GM’s meeting has concluded. Some details…
– Season starts Feb 4th
– Training camps start Jan 23rd
– European + American players arrive Jan 8 + quarantine
– 40 game season
– 4 teams from each conference make playoffs, so 8 teams total.— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) October 28, 2020
According to Marek, there will be one or two exhibition games from Jan 29 – 31, then right into the season. There was no talk about what happens with U.S teams or details about how games/schedule will be determined, but it is believed teams may only play against 4 or 5 other squads.
Also, there was no discussion about the contact issue. Teams assume that’s not going to happen.
There was no discussion about fans during the meeting, but that’s not a surprise at this point.
The OHL season would conclude May 16th and a reminder the Memorial Cup has already been pushed back and will run June 17-27.
The Western Hockey League announced on October 15 that their season would start on Friday, January 8, 2021. The WHL is continuing to work with government and health authorities in the Western Canadian provinces and the Pacific Northwest states to get the approvals to commence play. All regular season games would be within division only, with a Manitoba/Saskatchewan division, an Alberta Division, a British Columbia Division, and a US Division. Players are to report to their teams following Christmas break.
The QMJHL, the third team that makes up the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), started their season on October 1. The league planned that all regular season games would be played within three six-team divisions. The games would also be played without fans.
By Jon Sorensen
