The QMJHL announced on Tuesday that it has brought an end to its regular season, which was to have ended on Friday. The league also has postponed its annual draft that had been scheduled for March 25. . . . The QMJHL is still hoping to be able to put together some kind of playoff with teams seeded based on points percentage. . . .
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The WHL’s board of governors was to talk on Tuesday, but so far . . . crickets! However, it is widely believed that the WHL and the OHL will cancel the remainder of their regular seasons perhaps as soon as Wednesday. . . .
Bob McKenzie of TSN tweeted Tuesday afternoon: “The WHL will be following the same path as the QMJHL. The OHL has a governors’ conference call (Wednesday), at which time it will be no surprise if the OHL also cancels the regular season.”
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The two players from the Winnipeg Ice who were tested for the COVID-19 virus are fine. Mike Sawatzky of the Winnipeg Free Press reports that a source with the team has told him that both tests came back negative. . . . “The club,” Sawatzky wrote, “did not immediately make further comment.” . . . Both players had been symptomatic so were tested, while the remainder of the players were allowed to go home. . . .
On a day when it was announced that four players from the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, including Kevin Durant, had tested positive, it was learned that one player from the Ottawa Senators has tested positive. The player, whose identity wasn’t revealed by the Senators, is the first NHLer to test positive for the virus. . . . The team said the player’s symptoms are mild and that he is in isolation. . . . Hailey Salvian and James Mirtle of The Athletic reported that “multiple Senators players are ill and awaiting test results to determine how many have been infected.” The Senators played the host Los Angeles Kings on March 11, their last game before the NHL shut down. The NBA’s Brooklyn Nets played at Staples Center on March 10 and have had four players test positive. . . . The Senators also played in San Jose on March 7, which was after health officials had recommended a ban be placed on well-attended events. . . . Of the four Nets players involved, only one is experiencing symptoms. . . .
So . . . Tom Brady isn’t going to be returning to the New England Patriots and, at the age of 42, is expeced to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who will pay him in the neighbourhood of US$30 million for one season. . . . So much for him ending up in the CFL. . . .
The International Ice Hockey Federation has cancelled two more men’s tournaments — the Division I Group A tournament in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and the Division I Group B event in Katowice, Poland. Both were to have run from April 27 through May 3. . . . The IIHF Council continues to discuss the status of the world men’s championship that is scheduled for Zurich and Lausanne, Switzerland, from May 8-24. . . .
The B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League officially cancelled the remainder of its season on Tuesday. . . .
The Achilles International Track Society announced Tuesday that it was cancelling the annual Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic. It was to have been held at Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium on May 30. . . .
The French Open tennis tournament now will be played from Sept. 20 through Oct. 4. It had been scheduled to being in Paris on May 24. The change in dates will make it the last of the four majors this year, and it will begin a week after the U.S. Open. . . . The Guardian has a good story right here on the reaction to the date change and, yes, there is some unhappiness. . . .
The PGA Championship has been postponed. It had been scheduled for Harding Park in San Francisco, May 11-17. One of the four majors for men’s professionals, organizers hope it will be played at Harding Park later in the summer. . . . Earlier, Augusta National announced that the 2020 Masters, which was scheduled for April 9-12, had been postponed. There now is speculation that it will be played in October. . . .
The PGA has cancelled the RBC Heritage (April 13-19), the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (April 20-16), the Wells Fargo Championship (April 27-May 3) and the AT&T Byron Nelson (May 4-10). . . .
The 2020 Canadian Transplant Games have been cancelled. They were to have been held in Winnipeg, Aug. 15-20. . . .
Pete Blackburn of CBS Sports is a huge fan of the New England Patriots. Here he is: “I’ll try to keep my weeping to a minimum, but it’s St. Patrick’s Day, our king has left us and all the bars are closed. Nothing makes sense anymore and us Pats fans can just never seem to catch a break.”
TAKING NOTE 