The commissioner said he could not ask players to spend the next season in full bubble, as happened at the end of last season in “bubbles” in Toronto and Edmonton.
From July 25 to September 28, hockey players were tested daily, followed a strict protocol and met their families only after a month and a half in a “bubble”.
The NHL is currently considering a number of options for the success of next season. One of them is that teams play in their arenas or in temporarily created “bubbles”. In case the matches take place in “bubbles”, the composition of the teams will change.
Although regular meetings have not yet taken place, the plan for next season will only be adopted once it has been approved by the NHLPA.
“You could play Bubble for 10 to 12 days to avoid traveling too much,” Batman said. “Later, everyone goes home and spends about a week with their families.”
“We have developed protocols and other necessary things. Although it will not be as effective as the bubble, we believe we can implement this idea. This is one of the ideas we are discussing.”
The Commissioner has previously expressed the hope that the new season will begin on the first day of January, but its course will largely depend on the development of the pandemic. The plan for the new season is hampered by the fact that traveling between the United States and Canada is quite difficult in these circumstances. There are also a number of restrictions when traveling between different US states.
“Obviously, we will not transfer all seven Canadian teams to the United States, so we need to consider other alternatives,” Batman said. “The problem is not only with travel between the United States and Canada, isolation must also be observed when traveling between states.”
Batman made no secret of the fact that for this reason the league may have to change the line-ups, as it would not be logical for teams to travel from Florida to California.
“I assume that we will do better if we do not have to travel long and reduce the number of games. It would also be necessary to play games based on the geographical principle, ie to temporarily change the composition of divisions to circumvent travel restrictions,” Batman said.
The Commissioner allowed the possibility that fans could also attend the games in some places, but it is important to understand the prevalence of Covid-19 in the region.
In the event that the NHL’s new season actually begins on January 1, there is unlikely to be a “Winter Classic” game between the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues scheduled for New Year’s Eve.
The late start of the NHL season will also have an impact on the World Cup, which was previously postponed to increase the chances of seeing any NHL players in the tournament.
This season, the Stanley Cup champions were crowned the Lightning hockey players of Tampa Bay, who beat the Dallas Stars 4-2 in the final to four victories.
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