During a virtual town hall hosted by the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, Gary Bettman stated he fully intends to crown a champion for the 2019-20 NHL season.
Although the 2019-20 NHL campaign has officially been on pause for 63 days now, longtime commissioner Gary Bettman remains confident that the season can be salvaged.
“I believe that if the right time comes, and the right circumstances, based on all of the options that we’re considering and our ability to execute them, we’ll get this season done,” Bettman told The Mercury News. “I don’t want to sound Pollyanna, but canceling is too easy a solution. That means you stop working hard to do all of the things that we’re doing, and I ultimately believe that there will be an opportunity.”
The NHL continues to weigh its options on how to properly resume the season as some states around the country begin to re-open businesses. Some Canadian provinces and cities are beginning to re-open as well.
“States are re-opening, cities are re-opening,” Bettman said. “We would like to bring a conclusion to this season. It’s got to be fair, it’s got to have integrity, and if we have to do it over the summer on some modified basis, then we’ll do it on that basis.”
Bettman and the league have yet to establish a timeline to restart the season, but the commissioner did add that they’re willing to push back the start of the 2020-21 as far as December if necessary.
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