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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced details about the league’s return-to-play plan this afternoon. The regular season is over and the remaining 24 teams would resume play in a tournament where each conference plays in a hub city. Locations will be announced at a later date. Potential host cities include:
10 cities are being considered for the two hub city spots that will host the Stanley Cup Playoffs. pic.twitter.com/bMLxSCvpRW
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) May 26, 2020
Bettman added this decision will likely need to be made in the next three-four weeks.
As pointed out by Pierre LeBrun, this means regular-season player stats are done and awards can be voted on and awarded before the season resumes.
The exact playoff format is still up-in-air. Bettman says the Return to Play Committee is debating whether to use re-seeding or bracketing.
There are no dates set right now, but Bettman says NHL’s season could conceivably run through the fall. There will not be any formal training camps, Phase 3, before July 1. It’s not clear how long they would need before returning to actual games. According to reports, the NBA is in talks to restart its season in late July.
Overall, today’s news is another step in the right direction for what should be a riveting summer and fall in sports.
Here are more notes from Bettman this afternoon:
NHL Draft Lottery will be on Friday June 26. The Nos. 1, 2 and 3 picks will be up for grabs. Fifteen teams — the seven who are no longer playing plus 8 more currently identified as Teams A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H — will be in the lottery. Same lottery odds as prior years.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) May 26, 2020
NHL says the round-robin/play-in are considered Qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs. And while this could still change, the NHL as of now considers that round a special set of games and not actual playoffs. So for record-keeping purposes, the playoffs weren't expanded from 16
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 26, 2020
Gary Bettman hints on @timandsid that a full 2020-21 NHL season could start as late as January: "Could we start with the Winter Classic? Anything's possible."
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 26, 2020
Gary Bettman says the NHL draft lottery will be used to determine the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 overall picks. It goes June 26. Fifteen teams can win those picks — the seven non-resuming clubs and eight play-in losers.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 26, 2020
Gary Bettman says either best-of-five or best-of-seven will be used in Rounds 1 and 2. It will be best-of-seven for the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) May 26, 2020
The NHL is not back…yet. A formal plan is in place. Things are certainly progressing…
The league is targeting early June for voluntary individual workouts for players at teams' training facilities.
— Mark J. Burns (@markjburns88) May 26, 2020
Hockey, anyone?
