Golden Knights Are Division Winners As NHL 24-Team Playoff Format Plays Out In A Hub City In Each Conference This Summer

By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com

It’s game on for the NHL in the age of COVID-19 — at some unknown time later this summer, with the Vegas Golden Knights winning the Pacific Division.

The VGK will play a round-robin series for seeding in the Western Conference as the NHL season is done.

The NHL shut down play March 12. On Tuesday afternoon, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman outlined the game plan for the return of play.

Las Vegas is one of 10 NHL cities vying to be a conference host city. As Bettman put it, “Things are evolving rapidly.” The two hubs could be picked in a few weeks in June. The interesting thing about Los Angeles and Las Vegas is that Anschutz Entertainment Group (LA Kings owner AEG) owns the Staples Center in downtown LA and a piece of T-Mobile Arena on the Strip in Vegas.

Las Vegas has a strong hotel and hospitality infrastructure and is likely a strong contender to be a hub. But the one potential problem for the Las Vegas market as a potential NHL conference hub is the limited number of ice rinks available for practice sessions for the teams.

Here’s a summary of the “Return to Play Plan”:

Regular Season

* The 2019-20 regular season is declared concluded through games of March 11. The 189 games originally scheduled from March 12 – April 4 will not be played.

* 24 teams will resume play: the top 12 in each Conference on the basis of points percentage at the pause (through games of March 11).

Timeline

* Since the League’s pause on March 12, the League has been in Phase 1 with teams having been instructed to self-isolate as much as possible.

Phase 2 – Early June

* In early June, it is expected that teams will be permitted to return to home facilities for small group, voluntary, and on- and off-ice training.

Phase 3 – Not Earlier than First Half of July

* Not earlier than first half of July, formal training camps will begin after guidance from medical and civil authorities.

Phase 4 – Timing TBD

* 24 teams in 2 “hub” cities will compete in Seeding Round Robins, a Qualifying Round and Conference-based Stanley Cup Playoffs.

* The 2 “hub” cities will be selected from among the following:

– Chicago, IL

– Columbus, OH

– Dallas, TX

– Edmonton, AB

– Las Vegas, NV

– Los Angeles, CA

– Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

– Pittsburgh, PA

– Toronto, ON

– Vancouver, BC

* Each Conference is assigned a “hub” city with secure hotels, arena, practice facilities and in-market transportation.

* Teams will be limited to 50 personnel in the “hub” city with only a small number of support staff permitted to enter the event areas.

* Timing and sites will be determined at a future date and will be dependent on COVID-19 conditions, testing ability and government regulations.

Competitive Format

* In each Conference, teams seeded by points percentage.

Round Robin: The top 4 teams play for First Round seeding (regular-season overtime rules in effect)

Qualifying Round: The remaining 8 teams play best-of-5 series to advance to the First Round (playoff overtime rules in effect)

First Round and Second Round: Format (seeding vs. bracket) and series lengths to be determined

Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final: Best-of-7 series

* The winners from the Qualifying Round play the top 4 seeds in the First Round. Individual First Round series matchups remain to be determined.

City 1

Hub City 1 – Round Robin for Seeding in First Round

1. Boston Bruins

2. Tampa Bay Lightning

3. Washington Capitals

4. Philadelphia Flyers

City 1 – Best-of-5 Qualifying Round

#5 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #12 Montreal Canadiens

#6 Carolina Hurricanes vs. #11 New York Rangers

#7 New York Islanders vs. #10 Florida Panthers

#8 Toronto Maple Leafs vs. #9 Columbus Blue Jackets

City 2

Hub City 2 – Round Robin for Seeding in First Round

1. St. Louis Blues

2. Colorado Avalanche

3. Vegas Golden Knights

4. Dallas Stars

City 2 – Best-of-5 Qualifying Round

#5 Edmonton Oilers vs. #12 Chicago Blackhawks

#6 Nashville Predators vs. #11 Arizona Coyotes

#7 Vancouver Canucks vs. #10 Minnesota Wild

#8 Calgary Flames vs. #9 Winnipeg Jets

*

Also from the Golden Knights to fans:

“Ticket holders to one of our last four remaining home games will receive additional email communication by the end of the week regarding next steps, including information on account credits and/or refunds.  Our Membership Services team is here to assist and serve you, however, reply times maybe delayed due to high demand.”

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