Here's the NHL’s bold statement on 2021-22 updated calendar

On Thursday, the number of postponed games in the National Hockey League reached 81 and league officials are working hard to reschedule and readjust the calendar in order to complete a full 82-game season for all 32 teams.

And apparently, the NHL is confident that full 82-game season is still in the cards. That’s the bold statement NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly made to insider Pierre LeBrun when asked about the rescheduling plan across the league.

“Again, that’s going to depend on some things happening,” Daly said. "But, look, a larger and larger percentage of our player population has been affected by COVID this season and that number continues to grow every day. Really, by sheer numbers, if you accept the fact that once you’re hit by COVID you’re not going to get hit again this year, then I don’t foresee an issue in finishing the season.”

At the moment, the NHL is hoping to use a good portion of February to insert postponed games or move up other contests later in the schedule to accommodate travel. When the schedule was first released ahead of the season, the NHL had a break in place starting Feb. 3 through Feb. 22 originally used for the 2022 Winter Olympics. With the Winter Games now off the table with players not allowed to attend due to COVID outbreaks and restrictions, the NHL is expected to stagger games within that time period to make up a good chunk of missed games.

As of now, the 2022 NHL All-Star Game is still scheduled on Feb. 4-5 in Las Vegas.

The plan remains to see the regular-season end on April 30, 2022. The NHL is expected to announce around mid-January a revised schedule moving forward.

“I think by the middle to the end of January we’ll start to see a more normalized setting, a more normalized schedule and we’ll be in OK shape,” Daly said.

In the meantime, let’s hope fewer and fewer games get postponed as the NHL is proceeding with caution…