From The Point: CHL President Dan MacKenzie
Canadian Hockey League President Dan MacKenzie joined Junior Hockey Magazine to discuss the CHL’s response to the ongoing pandemic, the launch of the CHL on TSN broadcast schedule, and the chance to crown a national champion at the upcoming 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia:
Junior Hockey Magazine: Give us a status report on where the CHL is right now in terms of Omicron.
Dan MacKenzie: We’re collecting as much data as we can in each of the regions. One of the things that has been interesting about not only Omicron but the past 22 months is the fact that it is the kind of phenomenon that is at different stages in different places. You really get a sense of the scope of the CHL in terms of there being 60 teams across 13 different jurisdictions. The status of something in the Maritimes may be different than the status of something in British Columbia or the Pacific Northwest. We are continuing to work with the regional and provincial health authorities in each of those places to understand what the impacts are in those regions. Ultimately, the safety of our players, fans, and hockey operations staff is the most important thing that we are focused on. We are going to be working with the public health authorities and making decisions as we go. Right now, we are still in a little bit of an information gathering mode. I don’t think any of us know exactly what we are dealing with yet in terms of severity. Transmission rates seem to be pretty high but I think that we are in a bit of a read and react mode right now.
JHM: What is your excitement level for the CHL schedule on TSN?
DM: We are pretty excited about it. One of the reasons why we landed with TSN and RDS was around the concept of it being a Canadian-based sports property and being with a network that has a historic track record of building properties like ours, like with the CFL, the World Juniors, and Curling. They have a really good understanding of Canadian-based sports properties. As we were putting together the schedule with the folks at TSN, we were really excited about the notion of Friday nights and ‘Friday nights on TSN’. That is really what the schedule we announced is all about. I live in a junior hockey town and Friday nights in our town are junior hockey night. I live in Guelph and the Guelph Storm are a big part of Friday night for a lot of people. The CHL leveraging that reality on TSN and RDS to play on Friday nights in that window is really going to be a positive. We are super excited about the deal and launching on January 14 on TSN and RDS.
JHM: How important was it for the CHL to show case players like Shane Wright and Connor Bedard as part of the TSN schedule?
DM: I think one of the nice synergies of the deal and launching in mid-January is that ‘Joe Sports Fan’ in Canada will get a chance to see how special these players really are. It is going to be great to watch them on their CHL clubs on Friday nights across the network. We are really excited about showcasing the stars of the CHL and the future stars of the NHL on national TV and through a platform that TSN and RDS provides.
JHM: How are preparations going ahead of the 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia?
DM: This is going to be a pretty special year. I still have not had the opportunity to present the Memorial Cup in the entire time I have been in this role, so I am excited about that. Preparations are going really well. One of the reasons why we chose Saint John as the host is because they did a really good job of demonstrating their vision of what the event could do for their region and how they are going to get the community engaged and to leave a lasting legacy in Saint John around junior hockey and the Memorial Cup. Plans are underway on a variety of things. At the end of the day, it is all about the hockey and crowning a national champion. We are pretty excited to see where that takes us. We still have a lot of hockey to play this year, but ticket sales have been going well. Tickets went on sale in early December and are moving really well, so I think we are going to have full buildings. The excitement is growing and I think Saint John is going to be a great host city.