Nova Scotia, PEI to resume QMJHL games

The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League is set to make its returns in the Maritimes - but not quite yet in New Brunswick.

The league announced on Monday that games will return in both PEI and Nova Scotia this weekend, beginning with a Friday night contest in Sydney between the Eagles and Islanders.

Here's part of the league's news release:

Public Health Officials of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have approved the league’s plans to continue the 2020-2021 regular season after Jan 25.

However, with the actual epidemiological status in New Brunswick, the Government and its Public Health Officials have delayed their return to regular activities until the situation has improved.

The schedule released Monday extends all the way until Feb. 28. The league noted that the schedule will be updated if/when any of the three New Brunswick teams receive approval to play.

Both the Mooseheads and Eagles have confirmed that they will play without fans in attendance until at least Feb. 8. The Islanders, at the time of this writing, had not released any details regarding their return.

“While this is certainly not something we hoped for as an organization, it was the only way we would be able to resume play in the short-term,” said Eagles president Gerard Shaw in a news release. “We are very optimistic that this will only be for limited games and we will be back to playing in front of our loyal fans soon.”

The news comes as a bit of a surprise given that Maritimes Division teams have repeatedly said it would be difficult for them to operate without fans in attendance. That could change soon with both PEI and Nova Scotia's COVID numbers in good shape. Halifax averaged 1,900 fans per game earlier this season while Cape Breton averaged 1,079 and Charlottetown 970.

There's also the question of the Atlantic travel bubble, which remains closed to non-essential travel at this time. Obviously teams will be given some kind of exemption to travel in-and-out of provinces without quarantining - which is something that may not go over too well with the general public.

When could New Brunswick teams resume games? If COVID-19 numbers continue to trend downward, it could be within the next couple weeks. The Bathurst region has just seven active cases and could return to yellow this week. Saint John, with 35 active cases, will turn orange on Tuesday at midnight and could be in the yellow within the next week or two. Moncton, with 94 active cases, remains in the red and is having some issues getting numbers to steadily decrease.