Montreal Canadiens: Will the MLB lead to the NHL starting up again?

The MLB is working with federal health officials to get their season started, and perhaps that means the Montreal Canadiens hockey is still a possibility.

It’s been a grind trying to stay entertained without professional sports in general, much less hockey specifically. The Montreal Canadiens haven’t played a game since March 10th losing their third game in-a-row this time to the Nashville Predators. And even though the Habs were on the way to another playoff-less season, it was still something to watch.

With the NHL still on pause, fans have been desperately waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel for its return. But unfortunately, with efforts to reduce the outbreak of COVID-19, there’s no guaranteed end in sight. That hasn’t stopped from professional leagues for coming up with contingencies to start up within the healthy guidelines of course.

Enter the Major Baseball League.

The MLB had its season stop before it even got started. According to Jeff Pearson of ESPN, the MLB has been working with federal health officials to have the season start in May. Additionally, all 30 teams would play games without any fans, while players would have to agree to social distance themselves from their families.

The distancing aspect of it would be hard on members of the organization, but it would be the necessary measures needed for the league to kick off.

"Players, coaching staffs and other essential personnel would be sequestered at local hotels, where they would live in relative isolation and travel only to and from the stadium, sources said."

In my opinion, the NHL is waiting for another league to make a move to see how they can go about their resume. There have been ongoing conversations on how to go about it as detailed in Elliotte Friendman’s latest post with Sportsnet.

In it, North Dakota was mentioned as a possible location to complete the 2019-20 season. North Dakota has been used for many hockey events over the years, including the 2005 World Junior Hockey Championships. Take that in combination with their low population density, and it seems like a decent fit.

The same article shared an idea the NBA has in having all of their playoff games take place in Las Vegas and the Premier League starting in June. All scenarios would have no fans present in the stands.

If the MLB can get their plans approved, it does make the possibility of the NHL returning stronger. At this point, there isn’t any news or confirmation of the NHL getting to a similar point as the MLB, but it’ll be an ongoing process. The most important thing is that whatever the plan is safe for everyone involved and doesn’t do anything to intensify what health officials have been working so hard to reduce.

By no means does this confirm the Montreal Canadiens will play again. But what it does do is give fans a bit of hope to hold on to. The vine is there, it’s just a matter of whether it’s strong enough to hold on to.