NHL releases jam packed 10-day schedule for the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.

A ton of hockey in the first 10 days of the tournament.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
NHL releases jam packed 10-day schedule for the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.
Dom Gagne/CSM/Zuma

It has been a frustrating time to be a sports fan globally due to the pandemic caused by the deadly coronavirus known as COVID-19, but for fans of the National Hockey League their finally appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel. Over the past few days the league and the National Hockey League Players Association have come to terms on a plan that will see players enter training camp this coming Monday and meaningful games, playoff hockey in fact, will follow very shortly. 

We now know that what the league has dubbed the "Stanley Cup Qualifiers" will kick off on the first day of August and furthermore we now have an idea of just how crazy the league's schedule is going to be once the 24 team tournament begins. The NHL has released a detailed schedule outlining the matches that will take place during the first 10 days of the tournament and needless to say we are looking at a packed schedule. The 10th day on the schedule will be an off day, however every single one of the other days will feature a minimum of 5 games per day with 7 of those days actually containing 6 games or at least having the potential to contain 6 games should the play in series go to the maximum number of 5 games. Unfortunately this also means that for some fans the hype will die out rather quickly given that there are going to be a lot of teams sent packing within those first 9 days of the competition as well. 

Although this format is clearly designed to maximize television revenue for the NHL and its partners, and to fulfill the league's obligation to those partners, it is also going to provide a ton of excitement for the fans who tune in. Within the first 9 days there will be 8 teams eliminated from the tournament and the traditional 16 team tournament will begin to take shape, including the round robin portion of the tournament giving us a clearer picture of who will be facing who in the traditional Stanley Cup Playoffs. 

I for one cannot wait, here is a look at the full 10 day schedule:


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