Report: NHL will shut down 2021 season if they can't fit in at least 48 games

Don't look now but the calendar just rolled over to November this weekend and there's still no definitive date for the opening of the 2020-21 NHL season.

Wasn't the NHL planning to open training camps in November? Remember all that talk about a December 1st, 2020 start date? Yeah... that seems to be out the window. In fact, ESPN's Emily Kaplan is reporting that even a January 1st, 2021 start date is ambitious. More likely we're looking at a February start date with a shortened season due to scheduling restraints.

So... what will the season look like? If the NHL starts up in February, will it end in June as it traditionally does? How many games will the season be? What's the deal with the Stanley Cup Playoffs? 

From Kaplan's latest article for ESPN:  

Let's start with the obvious: a start date of Jan. 1, mid-January or sometime in February -- which some teams believe is still possible -- would likely mean a shortened season. That could mean upward of 65 games or as low as 48 games, like we've seen in seasons impacted by work stoppages. According to league sources, a 48-game season is considered the absolute minimum at this point.

After that shortened regular season, expect a traditional 16-team Stanley Cup playoff tournament. The NHL invited 24 teams into its postseason in the summer, but that might have been a special exception to Bettman's playoff rule.

So, that's the bottom line? 48 games? What's the point? Just another shortened season with an asterisk next to the Stanley Cup. The Gary Bettman specialty, if you will.

Honestly though... I'm not sure I believe anything coming from Gary Bettman and the NHL right now. The fact of the matter is that things are very much out of Bettman's hands and that there's no one in the world who can predict what the upcoming NHL season might look like. But what we do know is that NHL doesn't appear to be doing much to get players, fans and the media ready for the upcoming season. Players have no clue when they'll need to be in shape, where they'll be living or when their season will end. Ditto for the rest of the world. Par for the course in 2020, I suppose...