NHL expects next season to begin on time, 'fully at normal'

The NHL expects to be "pretty darn close if not fully at normal" for next season, Commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday.

"We're hopeful, we're planning, we're optimistic, and we believe that we should be able to start next season on time," the Commissioner said.
Speaking one day from one year when last season was paused because of the coronavirus pandemic (March 12, 2020), Commissioner Bettman outlined the challenges the NHL has overcome and the reasons to believe it can resume normal business next season. That would include returning to an 82-game schedule with no limitations on fan attendance, and regular divisional alignment after playing a 56-game schedule and temporarily realigning this season because of travel restrictions between the United States and Canada.
"As we look forward, more than half our clubs have fans in the building in a limited number," Commissioner Bettman said. "As we see that number continuing to increase as long as the pandemic cooperates and there's more and more vaccinations going on, we are optimistic that as we get towards the playoffs, the number of clubs and the number of people will continue to increase. We'll continue to adjust as necessary to complete the regular season and conduct the playoffs, and we remain optimistic that we can be pretty darn close if not fully at normal for the start of next season."

Realignment included placing the seven Canada-based teams in the Scotia North Division and the 24 United States-based teams in the MassMutual East, Discover Central and Honda West divisions. Although there have been positives to the temporary realignment that might be adopted, including an increased number of games within the divisions and the reduction of travel, the NHL plans to return to the Metropolitan, Atlantic, Central and Pacific divisions next season.
The expansion Seattle Kraken would join the Pacific Division as the 32nd team with the Arizona Coyotes shifting from the Pacific to the Central.
"We've been doing a lot of polling of the fans and in that research what we're finding is two-thirds of our fans enjoyed what we did this year and about two-thirds of the fans think that we should go back to what we have had more traditionally," Commissioner Bettman said. "And I think that's about right. Fans were very understanding, and even excited in some respects, about what we had to do in this unique season, but I think our traditional alignment makes more sense and is more widely accepted."
Although the NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe, where the Colorado Avalanche played the Vegas Golden Knights and the Boston Bruins faced the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 20-21 without fans in attendance, produced memorable visuals and was well received, the NHL wants to return to playing outdoor games in stadiums with fans attending next season.
The NHL would also like to resume playing games in Europe as early as this fall, but that might not be possible because of COVID-19 restrictions domestically and abroad.
"If we're not able for whatever reason to relaunch those games next fall, I certainly hope and expect that we would be able to it the following season," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said.
There are some hurdles to clear to complete this season, including determining the best way to complete final two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Play is restricted to within the four divisions through the end of the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs.
But it remains uncertain whether the semifinalist that advances from the North will be permitted to host teams from the United States or travel to play games in the United States because of restrictions in Canada. Daly has been involved in discussions with the Canadian government officials about this issue and said there is no firm deadline for resolving it.
"The first time the Canadian team would have travel outside of Canada or vice versa, a U.S. team traveling inside Canada, would be mid-June, so we've got a little bit of time to deal with this," Daly said.

As for NHL players participating in the 2022 Beijing Olympics, the Deputy Commissioner said he's been in "recent and frequent communications" with the International Ice Hockey Federation and has been talking with the NHL Players' Association, but the International Olympic Committee is more focused right now on the 2021 Tokyo Olympics this summer.
"The IOC right now has its hands full in terms of finalizing plans for what Tokyo looks like and while they have noted that this issue -- hockey and the NHL and NHL players' potential participation --- is kind of the radar screen and something that has to be dealt with, substantively they're not yet in a position to do that," Daly said. "So the commitment (from the IOC) is to engage with the IIHF in the not to distant future, but once they have done what they need to do with Tokyo."
Commissioner Bettman credited the NHL teams and their players for their commitment to following COVID-19 protocols this season, which have been adjusted as the season has progressed to help contain the spread of the coronavirus among players and staffs. He said the NHL had a high of 59 players in COVID-19 protocol on Feb. 12 and that was down to four Wednesday.
"We've navigated through the first two months of this season under extremely challenging conditions and we've been on this every day with the medical experts in enhancing our protocols and it's gotten us to a better place," the Commissioner said. "… Health and safety has been and remains our No. 1 concern. It was our focus 365 days ago. It's our No. 1 focus and priority today."