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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu have had discussions surrounding the idea of hockey returning. The NHL is looking for places to host regular season games and New Hampshire has the University of New Hampshire hockey program in Manchester. The idea is that teams would go to the neutral site at UNH and play out the remainder of the schedule.
.@GovChrisSununu confirms he's talked to Gary Bettman about the possibility of playing the rest of the NHL season in Manchester, NH. It's "on the table"
— Ken Laird (@KenLairdWEEI) April 17, 2020
The NHL has been on hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak since March 12, which is almost a week over a month long. There is hope and optimism that the regular season can return and be finished, but there are plenty of hurdles before that happens. Sununu told the Burlington Free Press that the idea is “on the table” as it mentions above. Here’s what else Sununu had to say on discussions.
“We have to make sure ‘What are the liabilities here? What if a team were to get sick? How is it going to managed?’ We’re working through some of those logistics but it’s on the table for sure.”
Really the only thing to this whole deal is logistics. Where will the teams stay? How many teams will go at a time? What will the schedule for games look like? How long will it feasibly take? Bettman and the League are working to figure something out. Here’s what the commissioner had to say to FOX Business News this week.
“When we decide it’s time to play, we have to be able to get everybody back and be comfortable that not only are we not infecting the population of players but that were not bringing the coronavirus from other places into jurisdictions where the players and other personnel are going.”