With The NBA finalizing their plans to continue their season in Orlando, starting July 31st, the NHL is finalizing their plans to continue their season as well.
The NHL will start Phase two on Monday with NHL teams allowed to begin to have players workout in their home arenas.
The NHL is playing to open its training camps on at the earliest on July 10th and players will need about one month of training to get back in game shape.
If this timetable is one that doesn’t change, the earliest we may see games is around August 10th.
According to NHL deputy commissioner, Bill Daly every player will be tested daily.
“We will have a rigorous daily testing protocol where players are tested every evening and those results are obtained before they would leave their hotel rooms the next morning, so we’ll know if we have a positive test and whether the player has to self-quarantine himself as a result of that positive test. It’s expensive, but we think it’s a foundational element of what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Each test will cost approximately 125 dollars and the NHL will need between 25 and 30,000.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has said that no more than 50 personal from each team will be allowed in the hub cities where the teams will be sequestered.
Teams will be able to have 28 man rosters and will be able to carry an unlimited amount of goaltenders during training camp and the season.
The NHL is still working through the logistics of what hub cities will be hosting the rest of the season.
Columbus, Raleigh, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis, Toronto, Edmonton, and Vancouver are being considered.
The Canadian cities may be problematic as the Canadien Government requires a 14 day quarantine period for anyone entering the country.
Once the playoffs are ready to begin here is the tentative format:
-The top four teams in each conference will play a round-robin tournament to determine the top four seeds in each conference.
-The qualifying round will be a best of five with all other rounds being a best of seven.
-Teams will be reseeded after each round. The highest remaining seed in each conference will face the lowest remaining seed in the conference. The second-highest remaining seed in will face the second-lowest remaining seed etc.
With this proposal, the NHL season won’t end until sometime in October.
The 2020-21 season would then be pushed to a late December or early January start.
There is also a rumor floating around the NHL will not start the 2020-21 season until fans are allowed to be in attendance.
