The NHL is the latest North American sports league to set a tentative date for restarting the season.
The league announced Monday that it has reached a tentative agreement with the NHLPA on a return to play plan. Training camps will begin on July 13, while games are set to begin on August 1. As previously reported by ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, Eastern Conference teams will play in the hub city of Toronto, while Edmonton will host Western Conference squads and the Stanley Cup Finals.
NHLPA, NHL Reach Tentative Agreement on Return to Play Plan, CBA Extension; Set Dates for Resumption of Play https://t.co/QKnu4L2jWV pic.twitter.com/6ClJWYhQwH
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) July 6, 2020
Notably, the NHL and NHLPA also agreed to extend the current collective bargaining agreement through the 2025-26 season.
The NHL’s format will be somewhat similar to the NBA’s, with the league’s seven worst teams being excluded from the restart. However, instead of the NBA’s plan to have all teams involved play eight regular season games, the NHL will skip directly to the playoffs with an expanded 24-team playoff. The top four teams in each conference will play a round robin tournament to determine seeding, while the other 16 teams will be paired off in eight best-of-5 series.
The NHL’s playoff system will be starting at just about the same time as the NBA’s restart, while MLB’s regular season is slated to begin about a week earlier. If all goes to plan, August should be a huge month for sports fans.
