Bettman says NHL plan would produce a ‘worthy’ champion

National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman says the league and the players’ association have agreed on a returnto-play format in the event the 2019-20 season can resume.

The 24-team plan would see the top four clubs in the Eastern and Western Conference play two mini round-robin tournaments to determine seeding for the playoffs.

The other eight teams in each conference would play best-offive “play-in” series — No. 5 versus No. 12, No. 6 versus No. 11, No. 7 versus No. 10, and No. 8 versus No. 9 — to determine the 16 clubs left standing in the playoffs.

Bettman says the first- and second-round playoff matchups could be either best-of-five or best-of-seven series, but the conference finals and Stanley Cup final will be best-of-seven.

“Obviously these are extraordinary and unprecedented times,” Bettman said.

“Any plan for the resumption of play, by definition, cannot be perfect. I am certain that, depending on which team you root for, you can find some element of this package that you might prefer to be done differently. But we believe we have constructed an overall plan that includes all teams that as a practical matter, might have had a chance (at) qualifying for the playoffs when the season was paused,” he added.

“This plan will produce a worthy Stanley Cup champion who will have run the post-season gauntlet that is unique to the NHL.”

Tuesday’s announcement is an important step in the league’s bid to restart the season, which was suspended March 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but does not guarantee a return to action.

The NHL and its players still have plenty of work to do, including receiving the go-ahead from government and health officials, timing, the location of hub cities, testing procedures and ensuring the safety of everyone involved.

Bettman said the league wants to have two cities serve as hubs for each conference — without fans in attendance — adding that 10 remain on the short list, including Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto.

The league announced Monday it hopes to move to Phase 2 of its return-to-play protocol, including the opening of team facilities and allowing groups of up to six players on the ice at one time under strict guidelines, early next month.

Bettman said training camps won’t start before July 1.

Under the 24-team plan, Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington and Philadelphia would compete for the No. 1 slot in the East, while defending Stanley Cup champions St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas and Dallas would do the same out West.

The East’s best-of-five “playin” series would see Pittsburgh play Montreal, Carolina versus the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders against Florida and Toronto versus Columbus.

In the West, the best-of-five matchups would include Edmonton and Chicago, Nashville versus Arizona, Vancouver against Minnesota and Calgary taking on Winnipeg.

The four winners of the bestof-five matchups in each conference would then be pitted against the top four seeds.