NHL plans for 3 games per day in each hub city

The NHL plans to schedule three games per day in the two reported hub cities of Edmonton and Toronto if plays resumes this summer, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.

Games would be played at 12 p.m., 4 p.m., and 8 p.m. local time, though that template may be tweaked slightly due to TV scheduling, McKenzie adds. The six contests would be spread out over a 15-hour window each day due to the different time zones.

The top four teams in each conference are set to play a round-robin tournament to determine seeds one through four for the 16-team playoff. They would play in the 4 p.m. slot, according to McKenzie. Regular-season overtime rules will apply if those contests need extra time.

On Monday, the NHL and players’ association came to a tentative agreement on a four-year extension of the current collective bargaining agreement and return-to-play protocols for Phases 3 and 4. The deal must still be ratified by both the players and owners. That process is expected to take place over the next couple of days.

Training camps will begin July 13, and teams will travel to their respective hub cities on July 26 before the qualifying round of the 24-team playoff starts Aug. 1.

Edmonton selected to host Stanley Cup Final

Edmonton has been selected to host both the conference finals and Stanley Cup Final this summer, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reported Thursday.

Though the NHL has yet to make an official announcement, Edmonton and Toronto have reportedly been tabbed as the two hub cities that will host the 24-team playoff if the league returns this summer.

The NHL and the players’ association are working toward a new collective bargaining agreement that includes the return-to-play protocols and remedies for lost revenue due to the league’s shutdown. The hub cities are expected to be made official once that agreement is pending player approval.

Edmonton’s hub-city plan involves a bubble spanning multiple blocks that includes the JW Marriott hotel, the Sutton Place Hotel, and Rogers Arena and its practice facility. A wall will be built around the bubble to help maintain player and public safety, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo.

Training camps are scheduled to begin July 10 under Phase 3 of the league’s return-to-play plan.

Hub city talks intensify with Toronto, Edmonton; Vancouver hits setback

Vancouver’s NHL hub-city bid has hit a setback after talks with provisional health authorities, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.

The league hasn’t ruled out Vancouver – which has long been seen as a top contender to serve as one of the NHL’s two hub cities for its return-to-play plan – but it has commenced more detailed conversations with Toronto and Edmonton, LeBrun adds.

The league’s contingency plans for when a player tests positive for COVID-19 is a key concern among provincial and regional health officials, according to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre.

Toronto recently resubmitted its bid to the league, which featured a plan to create a bubble on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds just outside of the downtown core. Edmonton’s reported plan includes an Olympic Village-style setup.

The NHL has said it wants at least one Canadian city to serve as a hub site. With Vegas also in the mix, Chicago and Los Angeles are on standby if none of the Canadian cities end up being viable, LeBrun adds.

Edmonton hub proposal includes Olympic Village-style setup

Oilers Entertainment Group is making a strong push for Edmonton to be selected as one of the NHL’s hub cities.

The company provided details Monday about its proposal, including those related to the player experience and safety measures it plans to implement, according to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug.

All players will stay at the JW Marriott hotel, which is across from Rogers Place. A village-style setup – similar to that used during the Olympics – will provide players with outdoor and indoor activities, including golf simulators, basketball courts, movie nights, video games, live entertainment, ping pong, pool tables, lounge areas, and rooftop patios.

Arrangements will be made with more than a dozen of the city’s top-end restaurants to provide players with a wide variety of food delivery options. Local golf courses will also have days dedicated to hosting only the participants living in the bubble.

The players are unlikely to be joined by their families immediately upon arrival, but OEG is working with Alberta Tourism to create vacation experiences across the province for family members to take part in as the season resumes.

Safety and testing protocols will be strengthened for all players, staff, and employees. Edmonton police will also help plan dedicated routes for players to use when traveling to and from the arena.

The league is expected to announce by the end of this week its choice of the two hub cities. After reportedly cutting down the list from 10 cities to six on Saturday, Edmonton remains in the mix alongside Vancouver, Toronto, Las Vegas. Chicago is also still being considered, according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun.

The NHL is reportedly not considering delaying its tentative July 10 start date for training camps despite 11 players testing positive for COVID-19 during Phase 2 of its return-to-play plan.

Alberta premier: Edmonton ‘safest place in the continent’ to host NHL

Oilers Entertainment Group, the city of Edmonton, and the province of Alberta have made a joint bid to become an NHL hub city if the 2019-20 season resumes, Alberta premier Jason Kenney said Tuesday, according to Global News’ Scott Johnston.

While making his pitch to a group of reporters, Kenney dubbed Edmonton the “safest place in the continent” to host the NHL playoffs due to the city’s low number of COVID-19 cases.

“We’re down to (58) active cases in this population in Greater Edmonton of 1.2 million people, and a handful of people in hospital with hundreds of acute care beds that have been set aside for COVID(-19) patients, together with the highest per capita testing in North America, if not the world,” Kenney said.

Additionally, Kenney believes Edmonton would be a top choice based on logistics.

“We’ve got one of the best facilities, I would say the best facility, with the brand new Rogers Place arena,” he said.

Rogers Place, the Oilers’ state-of-the-art arena, opened in 2016. It features several dressing rooms, an in-house practice rink, and an attached 364-room luxury JW Marriot Hotel. OEG vice president Tim Shipton said there are enough rooms for 12 teams and their support staff in the immediate downtown area.

Edmonton mayor Don Iveson, who tweeted out his letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman on Tuesday, agrees.

“In addition, the city of Edmonton is working closely with OEG on an agreement to use our high-quality civic recreational facilities, currently closed to Edmontonians during the pandemic, where NHL teams could practice and train safely while in Edmonton,” Iveson wrote in his letter.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said Monday that the league is evaluating eight or nine potential hub cities that could host about a dozen teams in one location.

Glen Sather’s legacy, leadership commemorated by city

The fans started gathered at around noon at the Winspear Centre.  Many of them eager to hear and see the man who many credit for putting Edmonton on the hockey map.

Glen Sather helped coach the Edmonton Oilers to four Stanley Cup wins during the glory years in the 80s. On Friday his name will join other Oiler greats in the rafters at Rexall Place.

But Thursday, it was the city’s turn. Mayor Don Iveson, who was just a kid during the Oilers heyday, recalled the team’s first Stanley Cup win.

“I was four, just about to turn five, when that first Stanley Cup was won and it feels like it was just yesterday. I was at that parade in Churchill Square,” Iveson said.

Iveson presented Sather with a sculpture of a bison, recognizing him for his accomplishments with the team and his leadership in the community.

As the team’s coach, Sather made a point of making sure his players were more than jocks. He went out of his way to show them there was more to life than just coming to the rink.

“I wanted them to experience some other things instead of just playing hockey and being a celebrity,” he said.

Insisted players donate their time

That also included taking the players on hunting trips and riding around on snowmobiles out at Pigeon Lake, but also insisted the players donate their time to numerous charities around town.

As for the banner going up to the rafters, Sather said he would rather all this fuss didn’t happen at all.

He’s overwhelmed, he said, but he understands the importance of recognizing what the organization means to the city.

“Listen, in my wildest dreams I never expected to do this,” he said. “I didn’t have any idea any of this was going to happen.

“But as the generations pass, and the memories disappear — I mean it changes and people aren’t going to remember everything — but I suppose when they look at those names in the rafters in the next building, it passes the heritage down just like the Montreal Forum, and the Gardens do, this is a part of everybody’s building.”

Following the noon-hour ceremony, fans clambered around the former coach and, like he used to in the past, Sather spent 15 minutes signing everything from hats, to pucks, even taking a few selfies.

Eric Tjernstrom saw plenty of Oilers games in the 80s, and will attend Friday’s banner raising ceremony.

“He was pretty well the glue of the Oilers,” he said. “He brought a lot of the kids up and we all know who they are, Gretzky, Messier, Lowe, and he’s left an incredible legacy here in Edmonton and, like I say, he’s an Albertan too.”

Thursday’s gala dinner at the Shaw Conference Centre is expected to draw a large crowd, with the proceeds of the $350-per-plate event going to the Oilers Community Foundation.

The Oilers Entertainment Group also announced a contribution of $1 million on behalf of the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation and the Katz Family towards the creation of a fund to support new programs at the Edmonton Downtown Community Arena that will serve high-needs Edmontonians.