What will the QMJHL's return look like?

Michael Hawkins/Saint John Sea Dogs

Quebec Major Junior Hockey League commissioner Gilles Courteau provided more details Tuesday on what a return to play may look like come January.

Less than 24 hours after the league announced it was taking an extended holiday pause with the hope of returning next month, Courteau took questions from reporters, detailing potential scheduling scenarios.

"If the pandemic is not good (by January) and there's still the situation where we have in Quebec some red zones and in the Maritimes some specific areas where teams aren't able to travel, we'll go with a protected environment event," Courteau said, via the Chronicle Herald. "The first weekend would be two games in three days in six different areas - four in Quebec and two in the Maritimes - from January 22nd to January 24th. After that if we keep on going with the protected environments, we'll have three groups of four teams in Quebec for six games per team over nine days from January 30th to February 7th and we'll have a group of six Maritime teams for an an event of five games over eight days from January 30th to February 6th."

This is the first time the QMJHL has publicly brought up the idea of a bubble for the Maritimes Division teams. Ideally, come early/mid-January, the Atlantic Bubble is back in place, travel restrictions are gone and fans can be back in buildings, which we saw for most of October and November. We've also seen that things can take a turn for the worse rather quickly, so planning now for potential alternatives is a good idea.

There are plenty of hurdles to overcome if a Maritime bubble is the only option for a January return, the biggest likely being approval from public health authorities. There's also the question of finances. Teams likely won't be on the receiving end of much - if any - ticket or sponsorship revenue if games are played in a bubble, which would be especially challenging given the fact that the six Maritime teams have not received the government funds the 12 Quebec teams have. Surely though, the league is well aware of this and will make the appropriate moves.

A few other notes...

• Le Droit reports that if the regular QMJHL schedule (i.e. a normal schedule with normal travel) is ready to go come mid-January, games will resume Jan. 17 at the earliest. This seems to be the best case scenario. This scenario seems to assume that players will return to their teams on Jan. 3 and be able to practice while in quarantine which... seems unlikely, at least in the Maritimes. But we'll see.
• The hope of the league is that each team will play at least 30 games in the new year, Le Nouvelle Union reports. The Sea Dogs have played 15 games so far. The league's original schedule had each team playing 60 games.
• Quebec media has reported that it cost more than $200,000 for COVID-19 testing alone in the Quebec City bubble. The bubbles work but they're not cheap.
• Trevor Georgie told the Telegraph-Journal (paywall) that Sea Dogs season ticket members would be compensated for any games that are permanently cancelled or played without fans in attendance.
• The league has not made any decisions on a playoff format, which was to be determined at some point this month. Stephane Leroux of RDS brought up the idea of all 18 teams qualifying for the playoffs this year.
• John Shannon, formerly of Sportsnet, tweeted Tuesday that the WHL may move its return back closer to February. The OHL plans to return on Feb. 4. Both leagues have the added issue of US-based clubs.