British Columbia not the only Canadian province raising concerns over the NHL's plan.

The National Hockey League's plans for a Canadian division in the 2021 regular season appears to be hitting several roadblocks. 

On Saturday we reported that government officials for the province of British Columbia were refusing to sign off on the NHL's plan, a plan that would involve flying players from other teams into the city of Vancouver to face off against the Canucks, for the Canadian division. The division would see all 7 of Canada's teams, the aforementioned Canucks as well as the Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, traveling across the country in spite of the ongoing pandemic to play out a 56 game season beginning on January 13th.

At the time of that report it was believed that 4 of the 5 Canadian provinces had signed off on the plan with British Columbia's government being the lone dissenting vote, but a new report from Ottawa Senators insider Bruce Garrioch suggests that the Ontario government may also have some issues of their own with the league's proposal.

Garrioch does not share any great detail but does say that the Ontario government has "raised concerns" of their own in regards to the deal, specifically as it pertains to the city of Toronto which is currently on lockdown. 

Although there has been no official announcement on the part of the league in this regard, it does sound like the NHL intends to have all 7 Canadian teams play out the season in Canada one way or another. The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta reports that a league source confirmed to him that the possibility of teams playing outside of their home city is on the table and could be used if necessary. Pagnotta cites this as the case specifically for the Canucks, although the source does go on to add that having the Canucks play out as much of their season in Vancouver as possible remains the top priority. 

Early on in the process there were rumblings that Edmonton could once again become a hub city should issues related to the pandemic prevent teams from playing on home soil, and I do wonder if that won't be given serious consideration if the province of Ontario also becomes an issue in this matter.