Be sure to like HockeyBuzz on facebook! For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter As the NHL and NHL Players Association hopefully get closer to an agreement on parameters for the 2021 season, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman reiterated the proposed mid-January start date for the regular season but hinted that the 31 clubs could start the year in hub cities instead of in their own buildings. "Right now, we're focused on whether or not we're going to play in our buildings and do some limited traveling or play in a bubble, and that's something we're working on and getting medical advice on," Bettman said to NHL.com’s Nick Costonika.
We have a couple of clubs that can't hold training camp or conduct games even without fans in their current buildings and facilities, and we're going to have to move them somewhere else to play. If enough teams can't play, again, without fans, in their own facilities, then we may have to move more and more towards a hub. It may be that some teams are playing in other buildings. It may be that a whole group of teams have to play in other buildings.…
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The plan is for the four groups (three US-based of 8 teams and the Canadian with 7 teams) to play an entirely intra-divisional schedule to limit travel but did say that the realignment may only last for the regular season. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said that Columbus, Newark, NJ, Las Vegas and Edmonton/Toronto could be used as potential hubs, but if as Bettman indicated there are only a few cities (like San Jose) who cannot play in their home buildings, those individual teams may only have to be temporarily relocated and not the entire league. It is clear that the players and owners would prefer to play in their home buildings, and if the NFL, MLB, and NBA can do so, the NHL should be able to. *******
The new season is closing in.
— Norman James (@IamNormanJames) December 13, 2020
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