The United States will re-open the border with Canada and Mexico in November for non-essential travel. Though no exact date has been announced, it is likely to be November 1 or November 8.
Only those who are fully vaccinated with approved vaccines will be allowed to cross the land borders. There has been no determination made yet on those persons who have received mixed doses of vaccines from different manufacturers.
This means, for fully vaccinated teams in Canada, games will be back on in the United States.
Canada, while celebrating this reopening, will not relax it’s mandatory negative test results in order to enter the country. This will likely prove to be a logistical problem if not a financial burden to some teams.
Testing centers in remote areas of Canada and the United States are not always open or locally available. Scheduling of multiple games to allow more time for testing to take place and results to be received will likely have to be done.
For the SIJHL it may be too little too late for its US based teams who are struggling with low roster numbers and limited interest from players.
For the NOJHL’s Soo Eagles is means game on and a return to Pullar Stadium and the best burger in Northern Michigan.
For the BCHL and Wenatchee Wild it means a whole lot of money will be saved in flights and rearranged travel.
The WHL and OHL can now move forward as planned.
Lets hope this border re-opening goes smoothly, for players, fans, and leagues. Twenty months has been a long time.
Lets play hockey.
