Report: Toronto's new hub-city bid features bubble on CNE grounds
Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment resubmitted its bid for Toronto as an NHL hub city on the weekend and now proposes that players and personnel would live on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds just outside of the downtown core, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reports.
The bid presents the idea of a "40-acre campus-like bubble" that would grant players access to facilities including BMO Field, Coca-Cola Coliseum (home of the AHL's Toronto Marlies), the Toronto Raptors' practice facility, and Hotel X, which has 400 rooms, according to LeBrun. He added that MLSE would be willing to add other features such as food trucks and an outdoor movie theatre.
Toronto's initial bid apparently focused on creating a bubble in the downtown core closer to Scotiabank Arena.
The league recently cut its shortlist of hub cities from 10 to six. Columbus and Pittsburgh were officially eliminated from contention, while Minneapolis/St. Paul and Dallas are reportedly out of the mix as well.
Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto are apparently the six remaining contenders to host the NHL's 24-team playoff format.
The NHL reportedly expanded Phase 2 group sizes from six players to 12 on Tuesday and apparently isn't considering pushing back its July 10 start date for training camps despite 11 players testing positive for COVID-19 since Phase 2 began June 8.