Could be one of those "we haven't fined them YET" scenarios where there is a deadline by X date to have a feasible plan or there are fines.
Feels like the WHL and ICE were put in a tough spot - they weren't going to issue the fine yet so they have to come out and say "No, no fine was levied" but I would not be surprised to see one at some point in the near future.
There's a strong chance that you might be right here. I doubt Mike Sawatzky pulled this story totally out of thin air, there has to be something to it. But yes, it may just be that the fine has technically not been officially levied, or whatever way the league wants to put it.
I'm curious as to how the league is going to proceed here. I mean, there was a bit of a sports boom in Canada around the time that the dollar was high. We saw a lot of new arenas and stadiums get built. But now, especially post-pandemic, it's pretty clear that people aren't generally going to games as much, they aren't spending as much on tickets. Some of the junior rinks built in recent years look comically overbuilt, like Moose Jaw's 5,000 seater... whenever I watch a game from there, like last night's ICE game, it looks like there are 1,500 people in the stands at most. Most other WHL teams are in a similar situation, where the number of empty seats on a typical night surpasses the number of occupied ones. So I don't know that the WHL is really in a position to start throwing its weight around, demanding that new arenas costing the better part of $100 million be built as if it was 2009 and the money was gushing. I'm no business guru, but it doesn't strike me as the most enticing business proposition for a team owner.
