The number of candidate cities that could host the rest of the season in the National Hockey League (NHL) has shrunk to five.
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The Vancouver Canucks announced Thursday that the club will not host the rest of the season. It was previously known that Columbus, whose team plays “Blue Jackets” by Elvis Merzlikkin, will not be among the host cities.
With the league’s decision on Thursday, it became clear that the final phase of the season could take place in two of the five cities – Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, Edmonton and Toronto. Local media previously reported that Las Vegas had almost won the right to host the NHL season.
“I am disappointed that the NHL playoffs will not take place in Vancouver, but we do not want to change the restrictions, because human safety and health are our priority,” said John Horgan, Prime Minister of the Province of British Columbia.
The continuation of the season with 24 teams is planned in two cities, one of them hosting 12 Eastern conference clubs, and the other 12 Western conference teams.
The agency LETA has already announced that NHL training camps will resume on July 10.
Club owners and players have already agreed on a format for 24 team elimination games.
The format envisages a series of up to three wins in the “play-off” qualification round, followed by a transition to the traditional series format for up to four wins.
The league and the players’ union also agreed that the playoffs would not take place in the traditional grid, when each team knows with which pair the winner will play the next round, and the teams will be re-seeded after each round.
The Eastern Conference season will continue with Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens.
The Western Conference season will continue with the St. Louis Blues, Vegas’ Golden Knights, Colorado’s Avalanche, Dallas’s Stars, Edmonton’s Oilers, Nashville’s Predators, Vancouver’s Canucks, Calgary’s Flames, Winnipeg’s Jets, Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks and Arizona Coyotes.
Bruins, Lightning, Capitals and Flyers will compete in the Eastern Conference for the sown places, but the following pairs will meet in the qualifying tournament with eight teams: Penguins against Canadiens, Hurricanes against Rangers, Islanders “against” Panthers “and” Blue Jackets “against” Maple Leafs “.
The Blues, Golden Knights, Avalanche and Stars will compete in the Western Conference for the sown places, and the following pairs will meet in the qualifying tournament with eight teams: “Oilers” against “Blackhawks”, “Predators” against “Coyotes”, ” Canucks vs. Wild and Flames vs. Jets.
There are five Latvian hockey players in the NHL district this season: goalkeepers Elvis Merzlikins and Matīss Kivlenieks (Columbus “Blue Jackets”), as well as strikers Teodors Blugers (Pittsburgh “Penguins”), Zemgus Girgensons (Buffalo “Sabers”) and Rudd “Sabers” Senators “). For Girgenson and Balcer, the NHL season is over.
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