About two and a half months after the league's last game was played at Staples Center in Los Angeles on March 11, Gary Bettman announced that the regular season had officially been deemed completed.
That announcement, among many other details, were announced by Bettman on Tuesday in a conference televised on NBC Sports Network.
For starters, according to Bettman, the "training camp" phase (Phase 3) will not start until July 1 at the earliest. This would likely pin the start date of games at some point in mid-July.
According to NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr while being interviewed with Mike Tirico on NBCSN, he said that he hopes the training camp phase will take "around three weeks."
Due to the resumption of the season likely coming in mid-July, the season will not end until some time in September, which would most definitely delay the start of the 2020-2021 regular season.
Of the league's 31 teams, 24 will still have the chance to play for the Stanley Cup, as determined by point percentage. The seasons of the Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks have consequently concluded.
Of the league's 31 rinks, ten are among consideration to be "hub" cities. The 12 teams from each respective conference will be assigned to an individual hub city. The possible venues/cities include:
United Center (Chicago, Illinois - home of the Blackhawks)
Nationwide Arena (Columbus, Ohio - home of the Blue Jackets)
American Airlines Center (Dallas, Texas - home of the Stars)
Rogers Place (Edmonton, Alberta - home of the Oilers)
T-Mobile Arena (Las Vegas, Nevada - home of the Golden Knights)
Staples Center (Los Angeles, California - home of the Kings)
Xcel Energy Center (St. Paul, Minnesota - home of the Wild)
PPG Paints Arena (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - home of the Penguins)
Scotiabank Arena (Toronto, Ontario - home of the Maple Leafs)
Rogers Arena (Vancouver, British Columbia - home of the Canucks)
Unless Staples Center is selected, two of the remaining 24 teams will get to play home games, albeit without fans. The hub cities are yet to be determined.
For the qualifying round, there will be four matchups in each conference, with each series being a best-of-five. They include:
Eastern Conference
(5) Pittsburgh Penguins vs (12) Montreal Canadiens
(6) Carolina Hurricanes vs (11) New York Rangers
(7) New York Islanders vs (10) Florida Panthers
(8) Toronto Maple Leafs vs (9) Columbus Blue Jackets
Western Conference
(5) Edmonton Oilers vs (12) Chicago Blackhawks
(6) Nashville Predators vs (11) Arizona Coyotes
(7) Vancouver Canucks vs (10) Minnesota Wild
(8) Calgary Flames vs (9) Winnipeg Jets
While the qualifying round is taking place, the top four seeds in each conference will be playing in a round-robin format to determine 1-4 seeding. Listed are the seeds (by point percentage) at the date of shutdown (March 12). These eight teams include:
Eastern Conference
(1) Boston Bruins, (2) Tampa Bay Lightning, (3) Washington Capitals, (4) Philadelphia Flyers
Western Conference
(1) St. Louis Blues, (2) Colorado Avalanche, (3) Vegas Golden Knights, (4) Dallas Stars
During the interview with Tirico, Bettman said that if two teams were to share a similar record during the round robin, the team with the better regular-season point percentage would be awarded the higher seed.
Once the qualifying round and round-robin format is completed, the NHL's of Stanley Cup Playoffs quarterfinals will begin. The traditional conference quarterfinals and semifinals lengths are still being determined, with five or seven games being the possible duration.
Bettman said that when advancing from the qualifying round to the conference quarterfinals, the bracket could be reseeded. Him and higher officials have expressed support for a traditional bracket, while some players have voiced support for a reseeded bracket.
According to Bettman, the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final will definitely be seven games.
Bettman did not rule out teams being able to return to their home arenas at some point to complete the season. He also did not rule out fans being allowed to return to games at some point if it becomes a possibility.
Nothing is set in stone yet. Nonetheless, the National Hockey League has left its mark as the first American major sports league to announce its tenative plan for returning to play.
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