The NHL has been planning to start the regular season New Year’s Day (January 1st 2021).
However, time is quickly running out to confirm plans. The NBA is going to be starting their season later this month, but the NHL has a couple additional obstacles to navigate.
For one, the NBA has one Canadian team (Toronto Raptors), the NHL has six teams in Canada.
With the US-Canada border still shut for non-essential travel and 14-day quarantines mandatory still, will this year’s season require division realignment to avoid these issues?
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There’s still discussion about Canadian teams playing in a division with each other.
The second obstacle is the economic situation. Multiple NHL teams are in financial peril right now and things will only get worse if this entire season needs to be played without fans.
**UPDATE**
Sources are saying that the NHL owners and NHLPA have overcome the financial aspects. The goal is for the new NHL season to start on January 13th 2021 now, but that still may be optimistic unless they start moving quickly.
Could the Hockey Season Be Cancelled?
At the time of publishing, I fully expect a shortened NHL season.
The NHL’s reputation would take a massive hit if they don’t find a way to play the season.
Is an outright cancellation possible, though? Yes. The owners could cite “force majeure” to cancel the season completely, but right now there aren’t enough owners in favor of doing so.
While a lot of teams will lose money if the season is played because of no fans, it’s likely a loss that the owners/players will need to eat with hopes of normalcy for the 2021-22 NHL season.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman recently said he’s optimistic the NHL will return to normalcy by next season, but that hope hinges on the NHL completing this season in my opinion.
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He also stated they are taking their time planning out the 2020-21 NHL season.
Well, time is running out. The NHL is running out of time to start the season January 1st 2021.
Don’t forget, teams need to have a training camp and then 1-3 preseason games to get going. A lot of players need to travel to their home city and likely quarantine for two weeks as well.
How will all of this get done in less than a month?
How Many Games Will Be Played This Season?
Right now there’s discussion about playing either a 52-game or 56-game regular season. The longer season is preferable to both the owners and NHLPA, but the dates have to work.
At this time, the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo are scheduled to begin in July.
The NHL has stated they want the Stanley Cup to be concluded before the Olympics begin because they won’t compete in ratings. Plus NBC Sports hosts both the playoffs and the Olympics.
I’m all for a shortened regular season because it’ll allow next season to start on time.
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With the Seattle Kraken entering the NHL next season, in an ideal world, we’ll be back to having a normal hockey season with fans in the seats. This can’t go on for too much longer.
The economic impact has been severe for the smaller market teams in the league.
We’ll keep everyone updated over the next month once we have more concrete details.
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