No hitting, planning for the season, and an annual tradition continues without hockey

The US election has (understandably) taken the overwhelming majority of the attention this week, but there’s still some hockey talk to be had!

• With all the talk of the OHL possibly returning without checking, the CCHL is already living that for “developmental scrimmages”. It sounds like they have had a lot of the same discussions we’ve all been having about that - the would prefer hitting be in the game, concerns about developing habits that won’t work when hitting returns, the effectiveness of it as a health measure - but decided that it is better to proceed without hitting than to not proceed at all. It’s a big step from Junior A to Major Junior so it isn’t an apples to apples comparison, but could this be a preview of what is to come for the OHL?
• NHL.com has an interview with Manon Rheaume, who remains the only women to have played in any of the major North American pro leagues.
• Planning is moving ahead in other leagues for next season, but we haven’t heard much out of the NHL recently. ESPN has put up a summary of what we know about the league’s plans. The target start date is still January 1st, though that’s approaching fast. The Senators (and the other 6 non-playoff teams) are expected to get an extended training camp, but that’s not finalized yet. Also this bit about opening day plans:/

Yes. The league scouted Lake Louise in Banff National Park as a site for an outdoor game, potentially to kick off the regular season. But that site proved untenable: As a National Park site, there are regulations against construction and regarding visible advertising.

The league is still exploring other locations that might allow them an aesthetically impressive vista for an opening day game without fans in attendance.

Hat tip to Dbalkwill for pointing out this one, and the Rheaume interview.

• ICYMI, the Sens re-signed Christian Jaros with a 2-way contract. That avoids arbitration, and wraps up the Sens RFA list for this off-season. On to the 2021-22 RFAs!
• Even though there’s no hockey going on, November is still Hockey Fights Cancer month for the NHL. There doesn’t seem to be a league-coordinated effort yet, leaving it up to the individual teams to take initiatives./