Report: Canadian city in consideration to host Stanley Cup Playoffs

When and where the NHL resumes the 2019-20 season is anyone’s guess. The league, obviously, was hoping for a short layoff when it officially “paused” the season on March 14th, but with the league’s players in isolation for at least another two weeks the absolute earliest that we as fans could see games in May 1st. 

Even then… is May 1st realistic? There are reports that the NHL is considering pushing the Stanley Cup Playoffs into July and August. Even crazier though is the idea reported by NHL insider Pierre LeBrun earlier this week when it was unveiled that the league is considering a “four city” playoff format. Basically, the 16 teams who qualify for the playoffs will play to empty crowds in just four chosen cities across the league. 

Check it out:

It’s too early to guess which locations may work best, but the NHL is likely looking for central locations in cities with the infrastructure in place to house and care of all the players. New York City jumps to mind, but the pandemic is at its peak there so it’s likely out. Cases of COVID-19 seem to be under control in Canada better than they are in the United States, would places like Toronto and Vancouver be considered? 

If you’re looking at doing two eastern teams and two western teams then Toronto and Vancouver make perfect sense, maybe you could include Montreal and Calgary or Edmonton as your third and fourth options? Or if the United States is still in the mix, Los Angeles and Las Vegas could host the Western teams while places like Boston and Washington D.C. hold down things in the East.

If you're looking for locations with a ton of high quality arena facilities nearby than almost any Canadian market would work, but here's a theory that I truly love… Saskatoon:

Let’s go, boys! The NHL is coming to Sasky!