According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, who confirmed the earlier report by The Las Vegas Review-Journal, Vegas will be announced as a hub city for the Stanley Cup Playoffs by June 22. An early favorite to host games, this news comes as a bit of shock considering the likelihood that the city stays a hot zone for COVID-19, but the NHL believes they can seclude themselves enough from the action and the issues, with accomdations readily available.
Johnston believes the announcement will actually come before the June 22nd date and adds:
Until then, MGM Resorts International plans to keep some hotels not currently open to the public off the market so that one or more could be available to host visiting teams after July 1. .
What About the Other Hub City?
Johnston adds that a city in Canada is still being considered but that decision will have to wait. He notes:
Ideally, the NHL would like to have a Canadian city serve as a hub alongside Vegas, but that won’t be finalized until the federal government makes a ruling. Toronto is the preferred destination, assuming the quarantine issue can be managed.
It was expected that decisions about hub cities would be coming rather quickly as the NHL instituted Phase 2 of their return to play and started making arrangements for Phase 3 and training camps that they’d like to begin as early as July 10.
What do you think? Does all this mean that hockey is getting closer to being a reality?
Related: NHL’s Phase 3 Date Not Set In Stone, Canada to Waive 14-Day Quarantine?
