NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the league’s plan to resume.
Bettman says that the regular season is over, and the top 24 teams will be split into the top 12 from each conference, and placed in separate “hub cities” for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Toronto , Edmonton and Vancouver are on the shortlist.
In both conferences, the top four teams will play a round robin tournament to determine playoff seeding. In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers will face off, while the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars will play for seeding in the West. Each team will have a bye and play each other once to determine the order of the top four seeds for the first round of the playoffs.
The league hopes teams will be able to resume training in early June, with the playoffs running through summer and into early fall.
All plans are subject to testing abilities for players and other personnel, along with adherence to government regulations and safety guidelines. Teams will be limited to 50 personnel at hub cities, meaning players will quarantine away from family members for some time. The NHL Players Association has already agreed to the proposal.
Here are the Best of 5 Playoff Series for remainder of NHL teams:
From the Eastern Conference:
Pittsburgh Penguins will play the Montreal Canadiens
The Carolina Hurricanes take on the New York Rangers
The New York Islanders face the Florida Panthers
The Toronto Maple Leafs will play the Columbus Blue Jackets
In the Western Conference:
The Edmonton Oilers take on the Chicago Blackhawks
Nashville Predators will play Arizona Coyotes
Vancouver Canucks face the Minnesota Wild
and the Calgary Flames will face off with Winnipeg Jets in an all Canadian match up.
The Stanley Cup will hopefully be awarded by Halloween…
https://www.nhl.com/news/nhl-plans-to-return-with-24-team-stanley-cup-playoffs/c-317031010
-Ian
Credits: nhl.com
