The National Hockey League begins shortened regular season play on Jan. 13
The National Hockey League (NHL) announced on Dec. 20, 2020 that the league would begin its 56-game regular season in mid-January. After several months of negotiations between the NHL, the NHL Players’ Association, and approval from various levels of the U.S. and Canadian governments, an agreement was reached on the format for the 2020-21 season allowing teams to begin training camps and their preparations for another run to the Stanley Cup.
Initially, the NHL planned a Jan. 1, 2021 start to the season, but had to delay to sort out key financial issues between the league and its players’ association. The league requested additional salary deferrals outside of their new July 2020 collective bargaining agreement. The players’ association resisted, as they were expected to shoulder the financial deferrals without a clear indication of when they would be repaid. Once the two sides found common ground, plans for the upcoming season could be confirmed and announced.
Opening night of the 2020-21 regular season will commence on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021 with five games, two of which will be in the league’s new North Division between the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers and, separately, the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs. There will be no exhibition games. The regular season will end on May 8, 2021 with the top four teams in each division moving on to the Stanley Cup playoffs. The playoffs will follow the traditional four-round format and end in mid-July.
A realignment of the NHL’s divisions to accommodate COVID-19 travel restrictions and border closures was necessary. The all-Canadian division is a first for the NHL in its 103-year history. The new “North” division will see teams play each other nine or 10 times, with the remaining American-based teams split equally amongst the Central, East, and West divisions and playing opponents eight times. The 2020-21 season will not include any inter-divisional games.
With pandemic restrictions still preventing stadiums from allowing fans to attend games, the NHL and its ownership are having to find new and creative ways of increasing hockey-related revenue — one significant example includes the NHL selling rights to name each hockey
division. In partnership with Scotiabank, Honda, Discover, and MassMutual, each NHL division’s name will now be preceded by their sponsor. According to an NHL press release, the new names are the Scotia NHL North Division, Honda NHL West Division, Discover NHL Central Division, and the MassMutual NHL East Division.
Regardless of the necessary changes, delays, and pandemic restrictions, the NHL is set to start another season. The action on the ice will help bring some old-school normality to our new normal. For traditional hockey fans, the wait has been excruciating. Let’s see the puck drop and the hunt for the Stanley Cup begin on fresh ice.
Head to the NHL website for a complete 2020-21 regular season schedule.
(Chris Liverani / Unsplash)
Steve is a third-year BFA creative writing/visual arts student who’s been a contributing writer, staff writer and now an editor at The Cascade. He's always found stories and adventures but now has the joy of capturing and reporting them.
