The historic NHL summer

“This will be an unusual undertaking, to say the least,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman before play resumed on Saturday after a 142-day break. The NHL interrupted the season on March 12th and decided to continue with an expanded play-off despite the basic round not yet being completed. 24 instead of the usual 16 teams are in the knockout phase, with 16 teams fighting in a pre-qualifier for a place in the main play-off round.

Connor McDavid and the Oilers enjoy “home advantage”. © APA/getty / JEFF VINNICK

The game will be played in two “hub cities”: the twelve qualified clubs from the Western Conference will meet in Edmonton and the Eastern Conference will meet in Toronto. The conference finals and the Stanley Cup final series (September 22nd to October 4th at the latest) will be played at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Las Vegas and Vancouver were originally planned as venues, but for safety and logistical reasons they ultimately went to Edmonton and Toronto - two cities with low virus spread. Teams must vacate the locker room immediately after the game The prerequisite was sufficient accommodation and training facilities for twelve teams and up to three games per day, starting at midday. Teams must therefore leave the locker rooms one hour after the end of the game so that they can be disinfected before the next team arrives.

The teams are isolated in the two cities, completely to themselves and have to adhere to strict guidelines. The NHL bubbles in the two cities are shielded from the outside world by a fence system; 97 security employees in Toronto and 125 in Edmonton are assigned to monitor them. “We cannot tolerate leaving the bubble” NHL boss Gerry Bettman Three hotels in Edmonton and two in Toronto are available exclusively to the NHL. The league has set up a delivery service for goods outside the bubble. “Protecting the hub and bubble is extremely important to ensure the health and wellbeing of everyone. We cannot tolerate leaving the bubble,” Bettman said. 1.000 pucks, 12.000 towels How detailed the league has prepared can also be measured in numbers: Over 1.000 pucks and Gatorade boxes as well as 12.000 towels were ordered in the East and West for the qualifying round. Each team was allowed to bring 31 players and a maximum of 52 people in total. They have to be tested for Corona every day. If a player tests positive, he must go into quarantine. The NHL is not releasing the name. The players were allowed to “drop out” in advance, but a few made use of this option, mostly for health reasons.

In any case, in the absence of fans, the tournaments will become purely TV events. Thanks to a sound archive from partner EA Sports, the atmosphere is to be created; 32 cameras are used per game instead of the previous 20. The NHL has no concerns that the quality of the ice could suffer with up to three games per day during the height of summer. Because unlike normal games, the body heat of 19.000 spectators would be missing.

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The historic NHL summer

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