Photo: Chris Young/The Canadian Press
Appearing on the Ray & Dregs podcast, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman provided an update on the process for determining the two hub cities to be designated for hosting the 2020 NHL playoffs.
“I’m going to probably have to make a decision collectively on this probably in three weeks,” he said on May 28. “I think in two weeks we’ll start narrowing down further. Somewhere around three weeks we’re going to have to pull the trigger and finalize the arrangements and make the deposits.”
The cities in contention to host games include Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Vegas, Los Angeles, St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Vancouver. Only three of those cities are home to Eastern Conference teams.
The league is set to transition to phase two in their return-to-play plan later this week. Phase three (mini-training camps) will not start before July 10 and that phase two (small group skates and workouts), which teams are preparing to begin late next week, will not be mandatory.
The first two weeks of training camp for each team will take place in the clubs’ playing city and the last week in their assigned hub city. Phase four, the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, could occur in early August.
By Jon Sorensen
