The National Hockey League is hell-bent on getting the 2021 season started as soon as possible.
There is no denying that the end of the 2019-20 season was chaotic, but ultimately successful with hub cities in Canada for the postseason/pre-playoffs tournament and Stanley Cup Playoffs and Final. 
The hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton were the cornerstones of each conference, with Edmonton hosting the the Cup Final.
The absence of fans was palpable on televised broadcasts; the lack of energy in the arenas was jarring. Piped in cheering was embarrassing.
Now, the 2020-21 NHL season is about to be the 2021 season with the league looking to start in mid-January. As discussed on the @PHN_PODCAST this week, the NHL is pushed to end the season as quickly as possible because of the 2020 Olympics in Japan this summer.
Also discussed this week was the “need” to get the season started. The economics of live sporting events, with fans and workers in arenas was cited as essential to recovery from the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. The NHL seeks to start the 2021 season roughly two to three weeks after the Christmas/New Year holiday season with millions expected to travel during the next ten days. The U.S. is adding one million new cases of SARS-COV-2 every five to six days. Holiday travel is linked to the new increases in cases by epidemiologists.
The NHL has set January 13 as opening night for the season, two weeks after the end of the holiday travel expectations. 
There will be other NHL seasons beyond the 2021 effort. We’ve missed entire seasons for salary disputes; we can’t miss a season to save lives?
The NHL was applauded on these pages for a near perfect solution to the tattered 2019-20 season, it is difficult to muster that same support now.
The NHL released its schedule from training camps to Stanley Cup Final and beyond.
Dec. 31: Training camps open for seven teams that did not participate in the Return to Play Plan for the 2019-20 season (Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators and San Jose Sharks).
Jan. 3, 2021: Training camps open for the remaining 24 NHL teams.
Jan. 13: Regular season begins. Each of the eight teams in the East, Central and West divisions will play every other team in its division eight times, and each team in the North Division (seven teams based in Canada) will play every other team in its division nine or 10 times.
April 12: NHL Trade Deadline
May 8: End of regular season.
May 11*: Stanley Cup Playoffs begin. The top four teams in each division will qualify for the playoffs. The first two rounds will be intradivisional, with the first-place team playing the fourth-place team and the second-place team facing the third-place team in the first round. The four teams that advance from the second round to the Semifinal Round will be seeded by their points total in the regular season (No. 1 vs. No. 4; No. 2 vs. No. 3).
July 9*: Last possible day of Stanley Cup Final.
July 17: Deadline for teams to submit protected lists for 2021 NHL Expansion Draft
July 21: 2021 NHL Expansion Draft
July 23: First round of 2021 NHL Draft.
July 24: Rounds 2-7 of 2021 NHL Draft.
July 28: Restricted free agent/unrestricted free agent signing period begins
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