When will the Sea Dogs return?

Photo: Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

When will Saint John Sea Dogs hockey games return?

Officially, the Sea Dogs are scheduled to play next Friday, hosting the Acadie-Bathurst Titan. With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise - New Brunswick reported 25 new cases on Friday, giving the province 256 active cases - and the travel restrictions currently in place, a Jan. 22 return seems very unlikely.

Under New Brunswick's current restrictions, the Sea Dogs can't even play games against provincial rivals in Bathurst and Moncton. And of course, the Atlantic bubble remains closed to non-essential travel at this time, making trips to Halifax, Sydney and Charlottetown impossible.

The New Year's Eve weekend ended on Jan. 3, meaning next week will mark two weeks since the holidays ended. The hope seems to be that cases will start to go down - and fingers crossed that they do. It seems unlikely that games resume until the Atlantic bubble reopens given that the "protected environment" concept doesn't appear to be an option for the six Maritimes Division teams. Time will tell.

Q. Status of QMHJL? Will hockey resume with current travel restrictions? Strang says they're having conversations with the league, they made it clear of the requirements in NS and protecting NS comes first. So the league still needs to discuss with other provinces as well.

— Alicia Draus (@Alicia_Draus) January 15, 2021

The Quebec-based "protected environments" begin next Friday for the QMJHL's other 12 teams. Bubbles/pods are being held in Shawinigan, Drummondville, Rimouski and Chicoutimi.

The current Ontario lockdown continues to put any kind of an OHL season in doubt. A WHL return seems more and more optimistic since the league announced its intentions to hold a 24-game season last week.

On Friday, the Saskatchewan government announced it was giving its five WHL clubs $600,000 each. Alberta and British Columbia may do something similar.

WHL is lobbying in B.C., has got money from Sask gov. Alberta, gov. says they are working with the league to "better support their recovery". #WHL

Statement below from the office of Alberta's Minister of Culture, Multiculturalism & Status of Women. pic.twitter.com/rzeSIHjp90

— Byron Hackett (@RDAbyronhackett) January 15, 2021

The financial support would help WHL teams play a shortened season in empty buildings. There has been speculation of bubbles in Kelowna and/or Kamloops, as The Province notes.