OHL Officially Cancels 2020/21 Season

Tuesday, 20 April 2021 12:11

OHL Commissioner David Branch says they made the decision based on the recently extended stay at home order along with rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Ontario.

ONTARIO - The Ontario Hockey League has officially cancelled the 2020/21 season.

OHL Commissioner David Branch says they made the decision based on the recently extended stay at home order along with rising COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Ontario.

"We have worked tirelessly with the Province and the Chief Medical Officer of Health for the past year on different scenarios and different windows of opportunity but the reality is the conditions in Ontario have never been right to start and complete an uninterrupted, safe opportunity for players to showcase their skills. We owe it to our players and their families to be definitive. We were committed to return and play this season, but our hopes and desires have been dashed by the cruel realities of COVID-19."

The Province recently approved an OHL Return to Play plan a couple of weeks ago. They pulled the plug on it though, the night before the announcement. This was because of rising COVID-19 conditions in the Province and the dramatic increase of variants of concern.

The goal was to showcase the League's 450 players for scouts preparing for the 2021 NHL Draft, U SPORTS men’s hockey programs as well as Hockey Canada’s World Junior Summer Evaluation Camp. Branch admits it would have been difficult to play games in Ontario this year.

"Ontario has the strongest health restrictions of any jurisdiction in North America and we understood that this would make a return to play scenario extremely difficult. The openness the Premier, Minister Lisa MacLeod, the Office of the Chief Medical Officer and key staff have afforded us has not gone unnoticed and is greatly appreciated. We all agree that providing certainty for our players and families, even if it is not the answer they would want to hear, is the right thing for everyone’s health and safety and for the mental health challenges faced by many of our young players."

The OHL is the only one of Canada's three major junior hockey leagues to officially cancel the 2020/21 season.