The NHL restarted at the beginning of August delivering some exciting playoff qualifying series before the actual postseason dropped the puck. The return has gone relatively smoothly and fans have been treated by some great games. NHL’s two bubble cities of Edmonton and Toronto have successfully done their jobs. Players and team staff have been kept safe and unexposed to COVID-19. The same cannot be said for Major League Baseball, which chose not to use hub locations to play out the current campaign.
With the NHL Stanley Cup Finals around the corner, attentions have been turned to the NHL 2020-21 season and just how exactly it will look. Before the new season begins, fans can use the Casumo sport bonuskoodi to get a bonus prior to wagering on the games in the NHL playoffs. So, what will the new season look like when the puck drops on 2020-21?
When will the NHL 2020-21 season start?
The new NHL season will begin on December 1st with teams taking to the ice just under two months after the final date of this season’s Stanley Cup Finals. The latest date that the current campaign will end is October 4th.
Teams won’t have much time between the completion of the Stanley Cup Finals and the opening of training camps. The doors to training camp will be flung open on November 17th. The start dates for both training camp and the opening day of the season are tentative. Issues due to the coronavirus could arise to alter the NHL’s plans.
NHL’s impending problems
The NHL could have some problems on their hands for the 2020-21 season that are currently not as apparent as they will be in December. For starters, if the United States-Canadian border is still closed, teams will have difficulty moving from one country to the other.
The bubbles in Canada have worked brilliantly allowing teams to stay away from people due to travel being unnecessary. Having teams go back to their home cities and forcing them to travel cross-continent to play games could have serious implications on player and staff health.
The importance of NHL bubbles
Thanks to the NHL bubbles, the league has reported zero new cases of COVID-19 for four straight weeks. Compared to the horror show Major League Baseball has been, the NHL should be praised for their work keeping players and staff safe. Players in Major League Baseball have made a mockery of COVID-19 rules and games have been postponed regularly due to positive tests.
Dates could be pushed back by the NHL as there is nothing confirmed in regards to start dates. But as the league gets closer to that November 17th training camp date, decisions will need to be made. One could be reusing the hub city format. It seems difficult for the NHL to run a full season from a set of hub cities. Yet, 2020 has thrown up some interesting challenges and those may not go away in 2021.
The NHL has done well with the restart this summer. Now, the challenge is bringing back the sport safely outside of the hubs.
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