Hubs, hope … and drop-dead dates

As Bettman reveals some details for restart plan, players voice doubts

On a day when the governors of New York, California and Texas declared their states back open for sports business as soon as early June, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman shed a little more light on the NHL’s playbook for the pandemic.

Bettman said Monday that any cities selected as hubs — for a return to training, followed by multiple games per day — will need to be able to accommodate “a dozen or so teams,” adding that up to nine locations remain under consideration.

Meanwhile, despite Bettman’s assurances that there are no plans to cancel the rest of the season, some players are starting to wonder if a drop-dead date is coming soon.

In an interview with the sports business conference Leaders Week, held online because of the pandemic and covered by NHL.com, the commissioner reiterated: “We’d like to complete this season. We’d like to award the Stanley Cup … And our fans are telling us overwhelmingly that’s what they’d like us to do.”

Later Sunday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was among the leaders of three key states to declare sports leagues will be welcome in as little as two weeks.

“Hockey, basketball, baseball, football, whoever can reopen. We’re a ready, willing and able partner,” Cuomo said at his daily briefing.

The NHL board of governors met via conference call Monday, following a busy weekend for the league’s return-to-play committee, but there were no public signs of progress toward a return. The long list of issues still includes finding adequate, reliable COVID-19 testing and factoring in the need for quarantining. Bettman said 17 per cent of players are outside North America, with the rest spread out across Canada and the United States.

Meanwhile, goaltender Cory Schneider, player rep for the last-place New Jersey Devils, said that a growing number of players are concerned the NHL will soon announce a date beyond which the season can’t resume.

“I think that’s everyone’s concern right now,” said Schneider. “It’s a lot of guys asking: Is there a drop-dead date?”

A late restart also has the potential to delay the 2020-21 schedule. Schneider said that’s one reason why it doesn’t make sense to restart this season if the hiatus goes into the summer, especially for all the teams on pace to miss the playoffs.