The Prince George Cougars along with all WHL Teams in BC are eagerly awaiting approval to begin their season.
Yesterday (Thursday), the Government of Alberta and health officials in that province gave the OK to all five Central Division teams to begin play on February 26th.
Cougars Vice-President of Business Andy Beesley told MyPGNow.com the WHL’s Return to Play plan has led to positive reviews from the provincial health office but they aren’t at the finish line yet.
“(The return to play plan) has been getting very good feedback so far but we are not quite at the stage yet where they are saying yes to us but we think we are getting closer and closer every day to getting our teams up and running here in BC. We think it’s a positive sign but we also respect the fact each division has its own health authority and approval protocol. BC is taking a cautious approach and we really respect that and the number priority has to be eliminating COVID.”
Beesley mentioned a further update is imminent.
“We think that sometime over the next seven days or so we are going to have further updates as things are starting to move quickly, that doesn’t me we are going to get approval to start playing but all we can do is cross our fingers. It’s a really good sign that the WHL Return to Play Plan is solid and has been well researched and the fact that it is getting approval in other jurisdictions means that we have a lot of hope for ourselves in BC.”
Beesley added the organization remains in constant communication with players, parents, and agents.
The league office issued the following statement:
The WHL continues to work with government and health authorities in each provincial and state jurisdiction to establish a start date for the WHL’s East Division, B.C. Division and U.S. Division. Approval from the health authorities is required in each jurisdiction for the balance of the WHL Divisions to return to play.