NEW YORK / TORONTO – The National Association of Hockey League Players (NHLPA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) today announced an agreement to play a 2020-21 regular season program of 56 matches beginning Wednesday, January 13, 2021 and ending May 8. . As part of the deal, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will feature 16 teams in the best traditional format of seven, in four rounds and will end in mid-July with plans to return to a “normal” hockey calendar for the 2021-22 season ( regular season starting in October). The NHL and NHLPA will publish health and safety protocols, transition rules and critical data timing, and the 2020-21 program in the coming days.
Given the unpredictability of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHLPA and NHL intend to be flexible and adaptable in their approach in the coming weeks to ensure compliance with directives from local and national government and health authorities that focus on player health and safety, other staff related to the game and the communities in which we play. Priority will continue to be focused on the health and safety of our fans and players and the club, league, NHLPA and arena staff.
“The National Hockey League is looking forward to the start of our 2020-21 season, especially as the return to play in 2019-20 has been so successful in crowning a Stanley Cup champion,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. “Although we are aware of the challenges ahead, as was the case last spring and summer, we continue to prioritize the health and safety of our participants and the communities in which we live and play. And, as was the case last spring and summer, I thank the NHLPA, especially CEO Don Fehr, for working with us to get our League back on the ice. “
“Players are excited to have agreements for next season that will be unique but also very interesting for fans and players alike,” said Don Fehr, NHLPA CEO. “In these turbulent times, we hope the NHL games will provide fans with much-needed entertainment as players return to the ice.”
To reach an agreement on the format for the 2020-21 season, the NHL and NHLPA have agreed that the continued closure of the U.S.-Canada border requires realignment, and the League and Players have also sought to reduce team travel as much as possible. , switching to exclusively intradivisional play. It is the current plan to play games in the home fields of the participating teams, while we understand that most arenas will not be able, at least in the early part of the season, to host fans. However, depending on the prevailing conditions both in local markets and throughout North America, the League will be prepared to play games in one or more “neutral” locations per division, if necessary.
For the 2020-21 season, the teams will be lined up as follows:
North: Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg
West: Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, Minnesota, St. Louis, San Jose, Vegas
Central: Carolina, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Nashville, Tampa Bay
East: Boston, Buffalo, New Jersey, NY Islands, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington
Each team in the East, Central and West divisions will play 8 times each team in its division, while each team in the North Division will play each new team in its division nine or 10 times.
The top four teams in each division will qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs, with intradivisional play in the first two rounds (# 1 vs. # 4; # 2 vs. # 3). The four teams that will advance in the semifinal round will be seeded with the total number of points in the regular season, number 1 playing number 4 in one series and number 2 and number 3, meeting in the other.
Formal training camps will begin on January 3. There will be no pre-season matches. The seven teams that did not participate in the Return to the Game 2019-2020 will be allowed to open their training camps on December 31.