The Canadiens still have three games left on the Bell Center schedule in January, but if the current health situation does not improve, these games will most likely be postponed.
In interview with Press Friday, France Margaret Bélanger, sports and entertainment president of Groupe CH, said that given the current state of affairs, the January games at the Bell Center could all be postponed to another date.
“No one can predict what’s going to happen,” she explained in a phone interview. We want to present our matches in front of our fans, but our wish would be to postpone them to another date if we cannot do so. Of course we would prefer to play in front of an audience. Playing in front of empty stands, as we had to do a year ago, is not ideal. ”
For now, a total of six Bell Center meetings have been postponed to a later date. Since the National Hockey League still hopes to conclude its schedule on the scheduled date of April 29, it will very soon be impossible to continue postponing games.
In an email sent Friday morning to PressNHL Assistant Commissioner Bill Daly admitted it was going to be next to impossible to postpone games after January. “There is nothing decided yet, but (the end of January), that seems to be the limit,” he wrote.
There is of course a financial stake for the Canadian teams which would have to present matches without being able to sell a single ticket, as would be the case of the Canadian at the moment; in December, for example, the magazine Forbes valued the Canadiens’ income at the Bell Center box office on game night at $ 5 million, including the boxes, a figure that the Canadiens did not want to confirm.
According to France Margaret Bélanger, the management of the Canadiens did not foresee an emergency scenario that would lead to the presentation of local matches in an arena other than the Bell Center.
“At the present time, it is not a scenario for us to go and play elsewhere… Since September, we have been able to present games at the Bell Center by requiring the vaccination passport and the wearing of a mask in the stands. . We would like to be able to get back to presenting matches in front of as many fans as possible. ”
For now, the Canadian remains on forced rest due to the numerous cases of COVID-19 that have plagued the club, especially during the holiday season. If nothing changes, the club must resume training from Sunday at its center in Brossard.
The Canadiens are not the only club in the country to deal with these challenges. The Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators haven’t played since 1er January, and in the case of the Canucks, their last home game was on December 14.
The Canadian, for his part, has not played in front of fans since December 9. The last game to be presented at the Bell Center, on December 16, was offered in front of empty stands.
At this rate, everything indicates that the Canadian’s Olympic break, which was to take place between the matches of the 1er and February 26, will be used to resume all local matches that have been postponed.
It remains to be seen if it will be possible to resume all these matches in front of an audience, even a small one.
“We will continue our discussions in this direction with the NHL and with Public Health,” added France Margaret Bélanger. We certainly hope to be able to find our supporters in the near future. ”