Report: NHL rush to start season leads to skepticism, a vote expected next week

Anthony Scultore |

Dec 11, 2020

The NHL seems to be in a mad dash to start the season after weeks of delay thanks to a handful of owners that sought to reopen the CBA. With so many obstacles and logistics to confront, the league still feels they can start the season on January 13.

Skeptics from players, agents, and executives on start date

Vegas Golden Knights owner, Bill Foley has already been publicly quoted that he feels the January 13 start may slide a week or two. In the latest Insider Trading on TSN, Darren Dreger expanded that list to players, agents, and other execs.

when will nhl season start — NHL targeting January 13th start date (mobiletechreport)

“Everyone involved in the process are hopeful but many are very skeptical,” Dreger stated. “Club executives, general managers, and player agents, they recognize the amount of work that’s to get done. And oh yeah! There’s still COVID-19.”

The NHL still believes that if they can get an agreement they can get it all done. Pierre Lebrun spoke with a league source and was told a vote should come by the end of next week.

So while the league is cutting it close, if this vote gets in soon we will be off to the races.

NHL and NHLPA continue to hammer away at details. Until there’s a vote, everything is subject to change. Two sides remain focused on Dec 31 camp start for non-playoff teams. Jan 3rd camp start for the rest of the league. Jan 13th start to 2020-2021 regular season.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 10, 2020

Other Key Notes

There were a few more notable takeaways including coaches behind benches wearings a mask. One coach joked, “now I can curse more and not worry about the cameras.” This is not finalized but is being discussed.

Another important note was no league restrictions of trades between Canadian teams and U.S. teams. Of course, they will need to deal with whatever the Federal and Local governments have in place.