It has been reported that there are between nine and 12 teams bidding to host what are expected to be four National Hockey League playoff “tournaments,” should the league be able to resume play this summer and TSN’s Ryan Rishaug revealed on Thursday evening that the NHL has begun a process to shrink the list of candidates down.
As Rishaug points out “the NHL has provided potential hub cities with a lengthy document of criteria that must be met to host games. The Organizations will work closely with the NHL and the regional health authority to meet them. Govt will have it’s own list at some point as well.”
The Arizona Coyotes and the Minnesota Wild are believed to be in touch with the league to host games. It has also been revealed that Toronto and Edmonton are in the mix to be host in the event of a centralized restart, as well as Pittsburgh, Columbus, Dallas, Las Vegas and Raleigh. The NHL is in the process of vetting a total of 12 cities where teams normally play.
Rishaug maintains that the door is still very much open for Edmonton to become one of the host cities.
We still don’t know which cities are in the lead, but it is very encouraging to see that the NHL is investigating every aspect in order to provide safety to staff and players.
