NHL Could Schedule Daily Triple-Headers For Playoffs

Photo: Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images

Thursday on NHL Network, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the NHL could schedule daily triple-headers in hopes to speed up the season’s return this summer.

“I was always told to prepare for triple-headers… that’s the kind of thing we would be looking at— triple-headers on a daily basis.”

Triple headers?!?!?!@FriedgeHNIC | #NHLTonight pic.twitter.com/lo9ZwxJpNb

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) June 25, 2020

Friedman has been told the “last possible day of the Stanley Cup Final is October 5.” It could be a difficult situation if several games take place at the same rink. “If we do go two western cities, that’s going to be very interesting for TV how they do that,” Friedman said.

Overtime and sanitation in games are other obstacles that would need to be addressed. “In theory, you can play at 1:00, 4:00, and 7:00 every day locally, which is 4:00, 7:00, and 10:00 ET, Friedman explained, “But these are playoff games, what if we go to overtime? We talked about the cleaning that needs to be done between games, maybe that’s not long enough time between games.”

The league is hoping to transition into Phase 3, which allows teams to begin formal training camps on July 10. Training camps are set to be open for three weeks (two in the club’s city and one in the hub city). The season is reportedly set to resume on July 31.

“I was told to expect triple-headers, I don’t have any reason to believe that’s different, but I’m not sure how much time they need in between all of these particular games.”