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Toronto Mayor John Tory says NHL has ‘incredibly detailed’ plan for hub cities

Toronto Mayor John Tory says NHL has ‘incredibly detailed’ plan for hub cities

TORONTO — In the aftermath of reports that his city will join with Edmonton as hubs for the NHL’s resumption of play, Toronto Mayor John Tory said he was impressed with the league’s plans on Thursday.

Speaking at his daily COVID-19 press conference, Tory said the NHL’s proposal works for Toronto.

“They had incredibly detailed disinfection and health protection measures that were in place even within the bubble to make sure they covered every angle they possibly could from the standpoint of making sure they met our public-health objectives. At least it would appear that way from what I saw,” Tory said.

Multiple media outlets reported Wednesday that barring last-minute complications, Edmonton and Toronto have been chosen as hub cities for the NHL’s resumption of play, which is expected to begin later this summer.

The NHL has not yet made an official announcement on hub cities.

The league originally had 10 candidates as potential hubs, with seven in the United States and three in Canada.

The Canucks announced last week that Vancouver would not be at a hub city after British Columbia expressed concerns about the NHL’s plan.

Tory said the federal government addressed border and quarantine concerns while Toronto officials took a closer look at other parts of the plan.

“The other kinds of questions that came were how do you define the bubble?” Tory said. “Because there were concerns that were understood completely when you bring a number of teams and a number of these players in, and say when they’re not playing they’re going to be in a given hotel, what if they want to go outside for a walk or just have some fresh air?

“There had to be considerations of that kind of thing that we really just had to answer questions as to what we could do to help facilitate that. … We gave answers to those questions and gave them always with the thought in mind that what we wanted to do was try to make sure we put our best put forward to try and be named a hub city — results to be determined — but at the same time did not adversely impact on the interests of the general public who we are here to serve and who themselves need access to fresh air and open spaces and other things.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 2, 2020.

The Canadian Press