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Bettman: Summer games possible; 3rd Avs player tests positive

April 7, 2020, 3:03 PM ET [4 Comments]
Rick Sadowski
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Hope everyone is hanging in as well as possible under these trying times. The Stanley Cup Playoffs should be starting this week, but everything is on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Avalanche would have played St. Louis at the Pepsi Center in the regular-season finale last Saturday in a game that might have decided first place in the Western Conference and Central Division.

Trust me, I know how difficult it is having to stay at home, not being able to hang out with friends and possibly family members.

We are now required to wear masks in Colorado, especially if you are around other people in stores, etc. I haven’t been in a store in quite some time.

Anyway, continue to wash your hands, try to keep from touching your face and do whatever it takes to be safe.

Having said that, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday said the league is prepared to play games “well into the summer” during a “Lunch Talk Live” on NBCSN hosted by Mike Tirico.

Of course, there’s absolutely no way of knowing at this point whether play will resume or not.

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“All of us running sports are basically focused on the same things,” Bettman said. “First and foremost, people’s health and well-being and safety is the most important, and while we all miss sports, either putting it on or watching it, and we all want to come back as quickly as possible, we understand what the No. 1 priority is.

“We’re all going to have to wait until we have a lot more information, maybe in the next few weeks, before we can make any decisions.”

I don’t know what’s going on in every other state, but Colorado Governor Jared Polis on Monday extended the stay-at-home edit through April 26; no question it could be (probably will be) extended again.

Bettman would like to resume the regular season, begin the playoffs and award the Stanley Cup, but there’s no way of knowing whether that will be possible.

“I think right now there’s too much uncertainty,” Bettman said. “Hopefully we’ll all know more by the end of April. From an NHL standpoint, we’re viewing all of our options. We want to be ready to go as soon as we get a green light. Nothing’s been ruled in, nothing’s been ruled out.

“Everything we do needs to be fair. The best thing and the easiest thing would be if at some point if we could complete the regular season and then go into the playoffs as we normally do. We understand that that may not be possible and that’s why we are considering every conceivable alternative to deal with whatever the eventuality is.

“I do believe we can play well into the summer. The days of when games had to be postponed because there was no air conditioning in a building are long behind us. We can handle making ice now in any condition. Ice won’t be a factor.”



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