Maple Leafs, Oilers won't have edge as Qualifier hosts, Bettman says

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers will have no special advantage by playing at home in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Thursday.

"A word of caution to them and for everybody to understand: They have no home advantage," Bettman said. "They are going to be subject to the same rules as everybody else. They're going to be treated exactly the same, including as to when they get to and don't get to use their locker rooms."

The NHL gave a detailed description of what life in the hub cities will be like and look like to all players, coaches and team executives Thursday in an hourlong virtual presentation that covered everything from health and safety to daily living, game presentation and competitive fairness.

From the moment Edmonton and Toronto were announced as hub cities July 10, the NHL has put a priority on maintaining a level playing field. As such, the Maple Leafs and Oilers will have no additional availability or access to their usual facilities at the main arena or practice rink than any other team, including gyms and weight rooms.

The 24 teams participating in the NHL Return to Play Plan will travel Sunday to the two hub cities: 12 Eastern Conference teams to Toronto and 12 Western Conference teams to Edmonton. Each team will play one exhibition game, beginning July 28, before the Qualifiers start Aug. 1.

The Qualifiers will have 16 teams paired in eight best-of-5 series and a round-robin among the top four teams in points percentage in each conference to determine seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The advancing teams will remain in Toronto and Edmonton for the first two rounds of the playoffs. The losing teams will have a chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery, to be held Aug. 10.

"This is anything but normal," said Colin Campbell, NHL senior executive vice president of hockey operations. "But we are trying to make it equitable for every team."

Rogers Arena in Edmonton has six hockey locker rooms, which NHL senior vice president of hockey operations Kris King said makes it "ideal for a tournament like this." He said the facilities at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto are a bit trickier, with two regular hockey locker rooms, but the NHL added two more. One is the locker room of the NBA's Toronto Raptors; the other is located in the converted media lounge, which was used as a locker room during the World Cup of Hockey 2016.

King said teams will be given an hour to vacate locker rooms after a game before cleaning crews come in to wipe down and disinfect everything, a process he estimates will take at least 45 minutes. A team playing a later game will not be given permission to occupy that room until a compliance officer deems it safe.

"To give the coaches the best opportunity to prepare as they usually do, we've been able to convert the bunker suites in Toronto into six unique coaches offices where even if their dressing rooms aren't available to them at a certain time, their coaches offices are available throughout the day," King said. "Video coaches can set up there."

The 12 teams at each site will have an individual suite inside the arena for staff to watch games and file video.

Any goal scored by the home team in a particular game will be accompanied by the goal song normally played at its home rink. A Columbus Blue Jackets goal will be accompanied by the sound of a cannon blast; when the Chicago Blackhawks score, they'll hear the familiar notes of "Chelsea Dagger."

Aside from locker room and meeting facilities, King said the smallest details have been addressed, including providing in each market 1,000 cases of Gatorade and 1,000 practice pucks for the teams.

"We've tried to create a scenario where all the teams have to worry about is staying safe and playing hockey," King said.