NHL to Enter Phase 3 on July 10

The NHL is all set to enter phase 3 of its return-to-play on July 10. With this, the league is taking another step forward in its return to the fields. Phase 3 of NHL is all about each of the 24 teams to start with the training camp.

In a press release, the league said that the length of NHL phase 3 has not yet been decided. Because of this, the owners have not yet communicated any beginning plans about the dates of Phase 4. NHL phase 4 will include the clubs facing off in two-undetermined hub cities during the return-of-the-play.

The NHLPA & NHL announcement.

In a joint statement, the NHLPA & NHL announced that Phase 3 training camps for the 24 teams will begin from Friday, July 10. This final decision came only after the medical & safety conditions were found to be pretty favorable and the league has reached an agreement to follow the safety guideline. The owners are discussing the length of phase 3 and the start date of phase 4, which can soon be announced. In previously made announcements the NHL said that — per the safety protocols the players would be tested for COVID-19 every day.

The National Hockey league is still pondering over the host cities for all the return-of-the-play games. It is considering cities like Dallas, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Minneapolis, Las Vegas, Toronto, Edmonton, and more. The league has announced that — through the game, there will be one hub city for the Western Conference & one for the Eastern Conference teams.

NHL season 2020 Game format.

At the beginning of June, an announcement from NHL commissioner, which said that the play-in round is going to be best-of-five and all four playoff rounds are going to be best-of-seven. Also, the input from the team came in as after each round, there will be reseeding of the teams. The teams won’t be facing off in a bracketed format.

In such a game format, the lowest remaining seed will be taken on by the highest remaining seed through each of the conferences. This will clearly mean that the top four seeds in the East are going to be Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins, and Washington Capitals. Similarly, the top four seed in the West is going to be Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, St. Louis Blues, and Vegas Golden Knights. Eight of these teams will be facing each other in a round-robin for determining a seed that fits in the first round.