NHL Sets July 10 Training Camp Date, Meaning Early August Return To Action Is Likely
BOSTON (CBS) -- When the NHL announced its plans to resume play, the league stated that Phase 3 of the plan would take place "no sooner than July 10." The league has now set July 10 as the precise date for the start of Phase 3.
The NHL announced Thursday that teams will open full-team training camps on Friday, July 10. The agreement between the NHL and the NHLPA was made "provided that medical and safety conditions allow and the parties have reached an overall agreement on resuming play."
Though the league said that the length of training camps has not been officially determined, Sportsnet's Chris Johnston reported earlier Thursday that the resumption of play should begin in early August.
If everything gets taken care of and camps open on July 10, that would place the likely resumption of the NHL season at the beginning of August.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 11, 2020
The NHL will have 24 teams return to action, with seven teams having their seasons ended already. The league plans to have host cities for each conference, in which the top four teams in each conference will compete in a round-robin tournament while teams ranked fifth through 12th will play each other in best-of-five series to qualify for the postseason. After that, the playoffs will take place as normal, with best-of-seven series through all four rounds of the playoffs.
The NHL is currently in Phase 2 of its return to play plan, which involves voluntary, small group workouts on the ice.