New York (AFP)
The North American Ice Hockey League (NHL) plans to wrap up the season with two dozen teams on two sites, along the lines of NBA "bubble" models, NHL boss Gary Bettman confirmed on Monday .
The NHL has identified "eight or nine places" that can accommodate "a dozen teams in one place," Bettman said in an interview at a virtual conference on sport business.
Comments which correspond to information, published in the press, according to which the NHL seeks to finalize a system with two "bubbles" with 12 teams on each site distributed by conference (East and West).
Las Vegas and Edmonton are among the cities considered, according to local media. In this scenario, the rinks of each site should host several matches per day and behind closed doors following a health protocol.
Interrupted since March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL, which has 31 teams, was yet to play three and a half weeks of regular season, not counting the two months scheduled for the play-offs.
"Do we have an abridged regular season? Do we go directly to the play-offs? Do we play them in one or more centralized locations?" Asked the boss of the NHL, without giving an answer on the format of a possible recovery.
The "back to the game" committee, comprising representatives of the NHL players' association, has yet to answer many questions, proclaimed the "commissioning".
According to him, the NHL can afford to wait until December before entering the 2020-21 season.
"We would like to award the Stanley Cup," said Bettman. "And our fans are telling us overwhelmingly that this is what they would like us to do, because people have already invested emotionally in this season."
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