NHL announces plans to resume play
The NHL announced Tuesday it will abandon the rest of the regular season and go straight into the playoffs with 24 teams instead of 16 if it is able to resume play.
The teams will resume play based on input from medical experts and when governing authorities' permission is given, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said.
Bettman said the decision is not a guarantee that games are coming back. But he said they expect to resume play in the summer and fall but dates aren't set because of developing circumstances and needs of players.
Bettman has announced the league would move ahead with a 24-team expanded playoff format if it’s able to resume play and award the Stanley Cup.
Instead of limiting the Cup chase to the usual 16 teams that qualify for the playoffs, the league and players agreed to expand the field to 24 of its 31 teams because of the unusual circumstances.
The season was put on pause March 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This is a meaningful start, I think, but it’s only a start," NHLPA executive director Don Fehr told The Associated Press after the announcement. “We have to make sure that we can actually implement all the things which are necessary in order to protect the health and safety of the players and all the rest of the staff.”
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Bettman stressed the plan’s approval doesn’t guarantee the resumption of games. The league and players must still determine safety protocols and solve other issues, including where to play.
Under the expanded format, the top four teams in each conference will play for seeding while the other 16 face off in a best-of-five series. The league has been shut down since March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In going ahead with the top 12 teams in each conference, the decision officially ends the seasons of the league’s bottom seven teams. They are Anaheim, Buffalo, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Ottawa and San Jose.
Games are expected to be played in two hub cities, and Bettman said 10 cities are in the running: Chicago, Columbus, Ohio, Dallas, Las Vegas, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis/St. Paul in the U.S. and Edmonton, Toronto and Vancouver in Canada. The Canadian government's mandatory 14-day quarantine could force the NHL to pick two U.S. locales.
Groups of 12 teams representing each of the two conferences will be limited to playing in the two cities, yet to be determined, with three-week training camps opening no earlier than July 1. Voluntary workouts could begin in early June.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.