The National Hockey League is still trying to complete the playoff tournament for the 2019-20 season. On Wednesday, Frank_Seravalli Tweeted some planned dates for when those qualifying and playoff rounds are slated to begin.
#NHL tentative RTP schedule:
???? July 24: Travel to hubs
???? July 25: Exhibition games
???? July 30: Qualif. round begins
???? Aug. 9: First round of playoffs begins
???? Aug. 23: Second round begins
???? Sept. 6: Conf Finals begin
???? Sept. 20: SCF begins
???? Oct. 2: Last poss. game of SCF— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 8, 2020
According to this, we could have the qualifying round begin at the end of this month, and even though the Sabres aren’t involved, it may be nice to have hockey back.
The Tweet mentions that the Stanley Cup Final could go into the first couple of days of October, which is just about when the next season usually begins.
Elliotte Friedman reported that the NHL has a 2020-21 regular season start date of December 1st.
Tentative dates listed in #NHL and #NHLPA Memorandum of Understanding:
????Later of Oct. 9 or 7 days after Cup Final ends is opening of #FreeAgentFrenzy
???? Nov. 17: Opening of training camps for 2020-21
???? Dec. 1: Opening of 2020-21 regular season
All subject to change.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 8, 2020
All of these plans could easily be pushed back, or they may not happen at all. We’ve been getting closer to sports leagues returning, and they’re trying to do it in the safest way possible. But we’re seeing a lot of players get Covid-19, and some aren’t willing to participate even if the sport returns.
Hopefully, hockey can return and get the season completed, but perhaps we can actually have Sabres action by the end of the calendar year.