Canadian NHL Teams May Play In US

By Adam Roberts – 12/18/2020

While Wisconsin doesn’t, and likely never will, have a professional hockey team, there is still a lot of National Hockey League interest in the state and interest in the sport in general. When it comes to playing in a pandemic, the NHL finds itself in a rather difficult position of juggling teams between two nations. Sure, in baseball the Toronto Blue Jays needed a second home and were eventually able to find one, but remember the chaos that came along with that process? Now try applying that to seven teams.

ESPN is reporting the seven Canadian NHL teams were told by the league they may have to play in the United States this season because of the roadblocks put in place by the Canadian health authorities. The league is hoping to play a 56-game season starting January 13th with teams in their home markets.The plan reportedly included divisional realignment and an all-Canadian division because the US-Canada border remains closed to non-essential business — including sports.

The NBA has also had to find a second home for their Canadian franchise; the Toronto Raptors have taken up residence in Tampa, Florida for the basketball season.