NHL, union announce plan to resume play on Aug. 1

Associated Press

5 years ago

FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, file photo, fans pose below the NHL league logo at a display outside Falcon Stadium before an NHL Stadium Series outdoor hockey game between the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche, at Air Force Academy, Colo. The NHL Players’ Association’s executive board is voting on a 24-team playoff proposal as the return-to-play format, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press, late Thursday, May 21, 2020. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

The National Hockey League and NHL Players’ Association have reached a tentative agreement to return to play this season and extend their collective bargaining agreement.

The four-year extension of the CBA finalized Monday coupled with the sides’ agreement on protocols for training camps and games paves the way for hockey to resume this summer.

Training camps would open July 13 and games would resume Aug. 1 if approved by the league’s board of governors and players’ executive committee and full membership.

The NHL is going straight to the playoffs with 24 teams resuming play.

Those teams will travel to one of two “hub” cities July 26 for exhibition games.

The qualifying round would begin Aug. 1.