NHL to return with 24-team play-offs

NEW YORK • More than 2½ months after shutting down because of the coronavirus pandemic, the National Hockey League (NHL) became the largest North American professional sports league to announce definitive plans for a return.

Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL, announced on Tuesday that 24 teams would return, if and when medically cleared, for a unique play-off tournament in two hub cities.

Official training camps would resume no earlier than July 1, and the season would conclude with the presentation of this season's Stanley Cup by early autumn, with the regular season officially declared as complete.

"We remain focused on the safety of our players, coaches, support staff and arena personnel," Bettman said. "We will not set dates, choose sites or begin to play until we know it is appropriate and prudent and are approved to do so."

The hub cities, one hosting the Eastern Conference and one the Western Conference, will be chosen from a list that includes Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St Paul, Pittsburgh, Vancouver and Toronto.

Bettman did not say whether fans would be allowed to attend the games, which would be broadcast on TV. However, he confirmed teams would be allowed to bring back 50 staff members for the training camps, which are to be subjected to regular Covid-19 testing.

Some remaining financial matters will be addressed in talks between now and the beginning of the play-offs.

When ice hockey resumes, the 24-team play-offs, expanded from 16, will be based on the points percentages at the time the season was suspended, with the top-four teams in each conference receiving a first-round bye.

During the first round, those teams will play a conference-based round robin to determine their seedings, from one to four. The remaining 16 teams will commence best-of-five series to determine which eight will advance to the second round.

NYTIMES