Report: Stanley Cup Final will be played in Edmonton

This past weekend it was reported that the NHL had unofficially chosen Edmonton and Toronto as its two Stanley Cup Playoff “hub cities”.  Makes sense, right? Among the NHL cities in consideration, Toronto and Edmonton are fine choices. The two cities (and Canada in general) has done a fairly good job of managing the spread of COVID-19 unlike some other American candidate cities like Las Vegas and Los Angeles. 

In the end it was speculated that the NHL would lean on two strong Canadian markets for the game’s return to play and that’s exactly what they’ve done. So, Edmonton will serve as the Western Conference hub and Toronto will serve as the Eastern Conference hub. Easy peasy, right?

But what happens come the Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final? Will teams travel back and forth between Edmonton and Toronto? That seems to defeat the entire purpose of having a playoff “bubble” to begin with. 

Well, TSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie announced earlier today that Edmonton will serve as the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final hub, meaning that the Stanley Cup will be lifted in Edmonton for the first time since a young Wayne Gretzky did so back in 1988.

Check it out:

Interesting. You would think just by virtue of having the hockey media centre of the universe in Toronto, that big players like TSN and Sportsnet would be able to keep the league in the city for its biggest games. Maybe this is a reflection of the league’s true feelings about players’ safety in Toronto? Edmonton, while not as appealing to some as Toronto, has managed COVID-19 demonstrably better than the city of Toronto has and surely the NHL has taken that into consideration.

Also, if you're an Oilers fan... how great is this? Not only is the NHL back in your hometown, but you KNOW that the Cup will be handed out in the City of Champions. The only thing that could make it sweeter, of course, is if Oilers captain Connor McDavid is the first person who gets to hoist the chalice. In fact, you have to wonder if that has entered into the league's decision making process too. The league's biggest superstar lifting the Stanley Cup to the rafters in its newest, state of the art building? Not a bad look for the NHL.