Governor Andrew Cuomo may have announced that the New York sports team was allowed to start training camps in the state on Sunday afternoon, but the NHL has not yet communicated with his club any action to reopen.
“We have not yet determined the date on which clubs will reopen their facilities for training and, finally, formal training camps,” NHL vice president of communication John Dellapina told The Post via email. “We are still working with the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) on league plans to return to playing.”
Rangers told The Post that the league had not communicated what they could or could not do, on or off the ice.
It has been more than two months since the league suspended the game due to the global coronavirus pandemic, and the first signs of a concrete plan to continue the 2019-20 season emerged last week. The NHLPA executive board chose to approve the 24-team conference-based playoff format to determine the Stanley Cup 2020 winners.
However, the union said through a statement that some details still needed to be completed before official agreement could be reached.
The proposed plan will determine the seeding of each team by their percentage point standings when the regular season is terminated on March 12. The top four seeds at each conference will receive a bye through the best-of-five play-in series that features seeded 5 to 12. The eight teams that receive the bye will take part in the three-match tournament to stay in the game.
The play-in series will then determine which team advances to the traditional Stanley Cup 16-team playoff bracket in the usual seven-game series format. Not yet determined whether the three-match tournament will have an impact on the standings.
Even with the passing of the playoff format, the league and player unions still negotiate logistics such as the host city, testing protocol and safety.
