It’s news that most junior hockey fans expected, but it doesn’t make it any less unfortunate.
The Canadian Hockey League announced today that the difficult decision has been made to officially cancel the 2021 Memorial Cup.
“As a league, we waited as long as we could in hopes that this was not the decision that we were going to have to make,” said a statement from the CHL.
“Regrettably, we do not see a path in which we will be able to produce champions in our three member leagues due to border restrictions and quarantining requirements.”
Statement from the CHL / Déclaration de la LCH pic.twitter.com/1zlAIYj5j2
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) April 13, 2021
While the WHL and QMJHL are currently playing shortened seasons, the OHL has yet to return to play and continues to engage in discussions with the provincial government.
However, with the recent increased restrictions that are currently in effect, it’s looking more and more like the OHL won’t be able to play any type of 2020-21 season.
The border restrictions cited by the CHL have the biggest impact on the WHL, as five of the league’s 22 teams are located south of the border in Washington or Oregon.
Even with the Memorial Cup now cancelled, the WHL has yet to reveal any plans for the league’s playoffs.
If the WHL does plan on crowning its own champion this year, at least one team will have to cross the Canada-United States border at some point during the playoffs.
The CHL said that further decisions regarding the timing and location of the 2022 Memorial Cup will be announced at a later date.
At this point, many sources believe that the OHL will get another chance to host the tournament next year, but it’s still up in the air at this point.
The Memorial Cup is steeped in tradition and is one of the most difficult trophies to win in all of sport,” said the CHL’s statement.
“We look forward to awarding it next season to the CHL championship team that has earned the right to host it.”
Until then, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, who won the Memorial Cup in 2019, will spend a third year as defending champions.
