WHEN SPORTS CAME BACK NHL likely won’t start games Jan. 1
Keeping an eye on the world of sports during the pandemic:
Time has all but run out on the NHL’s hope to start the season Jan. 1, with the league and NHL Players’ Association now focusing their discussions on opening play in mid-January, a person familiar with the talks told The Associated Press on Friday.
A mid-January start date has become more realistic given the number of issues that need to be resolved before players can begin traveling to their home cities, according to the person who spoke to The AP on the condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.
The two sides still need to agree on a schedule, with the current working plan featuring between 52 and 56 regularseason games. There has also been talk of a buffer being worked into the schedule in the event games are postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the person said.
Without going into detail, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The AP “various similar concepts are being discussed” when asked about the 52- or 56-game schedule and mid-January start.
Also needing to be resolved is a one-time divisional realignment, with the likelihood of there being an seven-team allCanada division due to crossborder travel restrictions, as well as an updated COVID-19 protocol for players and teams.
Under a mid-January start date, players would have to begin reporting after Christmas, followed by a shortened training camp and preseason. The regular season would likely stretch into early May at the latest, with the Stanley Cup Final targeted to end in late June or early July.
It would be similar to the 2013 season, which began in mid-January and featured a 48-game schedule as a result of the NHL lockout. Teams also played a more condensed schedule by squeezing in 48 games over just under 100 days. In a normal season, teams play 82 games over the span of about 185 days in a schedule that includes breaks for Christmas, the All-Star Game and a bye week.