The Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs will be able to play at home this season despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ontario government announced Thursday.
In a statement, Lisa MacLeod, the minister of heritage, sport, tourism and culture, said the approval was granted after “close scrutiny of the rigorous health and safety protocols that will be adopted to keep players, staff and our communities safe from the spread of COVID-19.”
She said she is looking forward to rebuilding confidence in minor sports after the pandemic.
In December, the National Hockey League said it believed it had an agreement with provincial governments on the conditions for its Canadian teams to play out the 2021 season from their home markets.
The seven Canadian teams will be grouped in one division and only play each other for the duration of the 56-game schedule, which is slated to begin Jan. 13.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are scheduled to host the Montreal Canadiens, while the Edmonton Oilers are slated to face the visiting Vancouver Canucks as part of a five-game schedule on opening night.
<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Hockey?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Hockey</a> news in Ontario 👇<br><br>The Ottawa <a href=”https://twitter.com/Senators?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Senators</a> and Toronto <a href=”https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@MapleLeafs</a> will be able to play home games in their respective arena’s as they compete in the <a href=”https://twitter.com/NHL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@NHL</a> North Division. My statement here: <a href=”https://t.co/Q6bOGJeamV”>pic.twitter.com/Q6bOGJeamV</a>
—@MacLeodLisa
More to come.