National Hockey League season
Sports season
The 2019–20 NHL season was the 103rd season of operation (102nd season of play) of the National Hockey League. The regular season began on October 2, 2019, with playoffs originally planned for April and the Stanley Cup Finals planned for June. The season was suspended indefinitely on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 22, 2020, the NHL and National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) agreed to a framework for the resumption of play, which would see the remainder of the regular season scrapped, and the top 12 teams in each conference (by points percentage) competing in a modified and expanded Stanley Cup playoffs, which the NHL planned to hold in two centralized "hub cities", Toronto's Scotiabank Arena and Edmonton's Rogers Place, with no spectators and only essential staff present.
The playoffs began on August 1, 2020, and ended on September 28, with the Tampa Bay Lightning defeating the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Finals in six games, winning their second Stanley Cup in franchise history.
League business.
Collective bargaining agreement.
The collective bargaining agreement (CBA), previously signed to end the 2012–13 NHL lockout, entered into its eighth season. Before the season started, both the NHL and the NHLPA had the choice to opt out of the CBA on September 1 and September 16, 2019, respectively. If either of them had opted out, the CBA would have expired at the end of this season instead of at the end of 2021–22. The NHL announced on August 30 that they would not opt out, and the NHLPA then also agreed on September 16 not to opt out.
Salary cap.
The salary cap was set at US$81.5 million, as announced on June 22, 2019.
Seattle expansion team.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the christening of the Seattle Kraken was delayed to July 23, 2020. The expansion team, set to begin play during the 2021–22 season, originally planned to announce the club's name in early 2020.
Ron Francis was hired as Seattle's first general manager on July 17, 2019.
Rule changes.
The following rule changes were proposed June 19, 2019, and approved the next day:
To put more emphasis on teams winning in regulation, "regulation wins" (tracked in an additional "RW" column in the league standings) will now precede "regulation and overtime wins" ("ROW") in the tie-breaking procedure. The league also added goals scored as a new tiebreaker.
Player and puck tracking technology.
After testing at the 2019 National Hockey League All-Star Game, the NHL planned to deploy player and puck tracking systems to all 31 NHL arenas prior to the start of the 2019–20 season. This technology was developed in collaboration with a German Fraunhofer Institute using transmitters embedded inside pucks and jerseys. It enables on-air features such as speed displays, puck tracking graphics (reminiscent of the FoxTrax graphics utilized in the late 1990s by previous U.S. national NHL broadcaster Fox, also developed by Sportvision), and marker graphics hovering above players.
On September 5, 2019, it was reported that the league replaced its primary technology partner in its tracking technology, and thus the system likely would not be up and running until the 2020 playoffs at the earliest.
Personnel.
On November 11, 2019, Sportsnet fired studio commentator Don Cherry for comments that suggested Canadian immigrants benefit from the sacrifices of veterans but do not wear Remembrance Day poppies. The segment "Coach's Corner" on "Hockey Night in Canada" was canceled the following week.
This was the final season for lead NBC play-by-play announcer Mike Emrick. Emrick announced his retirement from broadcasting on October 19, 2020, after a 47-year career.
Carolina Hurricanes play-by-play announcer John Forslund was replaced by rinkside reporter Mike Maniscalco prior to the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. Forslund had been the television voice of the Whalers/Hurricanes franchise since 1995, and added radio play-by-play in 2018 after the team removed Chuck Kaiton from the position.
Sports betting.
As part of its renovations, the Philadelphia Flyers and Wells Fargo Center announced that Rivers Casino Philadelphia (then SugarHouse Casino) would become the venue's official sportsbook partner, with the venue adding two lounge areas with odds boards to promote the casino's sports betting app.
Draft.
The 2019 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, with Jack Hughes being selected first overall by the New Jersey Devils.
Preseason games in Europe.
Two preseason games were played in Europe. The Chicago Blackhawks played against Eisbären Berlin at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany, on September 29, 2019. The Philadelphia Flyers played against Lausanne HC at Vaudoise Aréna in Lausanne, Switzerland on September 30, 2019.
General Manager of the Year Award.
On November 19, 2019, the NHL announced it would rename the General Manager of the Year Award in honour of Jim Gregory, the recently deceased former general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and former NHL executive. The official name is changed to the "Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award."
Coaching changes.
(*) Indicates interim.
Front office changes.
(*) Indicates interim.
Regular season.
The regular season began on October 2, 2019, and was originally supposed to end on April 4, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was suspended on March 12, 2020. On May 26, 2020, it was announced that the regular season would not be finished.
International games.
Three regular season games, branded as the "NHL Global Series", were played in Europe. The Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers played their regular season opening game on October 4, 2019, at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. The Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning played two games at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden, on November 8 and 9, 2019.
Outdoor games.
Three outdoor games were held during the 2019–20 season:
All-Star Game.
The 2020 National Hockey League All-Star Game was held in St. Louis, Missouri, at Enterprise Center, the home of the St. Louis Blues, on January 25, 2020.
Postponed game.
The St. Louis Blues – Anaheim Ducks game on February 11, 2020, was suspended at a 1−1 tie with 7:50 left in the first period after Blues defenceman Jay Bouwmeester collapsed on the bench in a medical emergency due to a cardiac episode. He eventually had an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator procedure and was placed on injured reserve. The game was made up on March 11. This resulted in the Blues' home game against the Florida Panthers being moved one day earlier from March 10 to March 9.
Suspension of the regular season due to COVID-19.
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the globe, concern began to build that large crowds at sporting events would spread the virus that causes COVID-19. In early March 2020, the NHL suspended media access to the locker rooms, saying that only official personnel would be allowed in after the games to limit person-to-person contact. The San Jose Sharks were planning to play three home games without fans from March 19, following San Francisco's order prohibiting assemblies larger than 1,000 individuals. Meanwhile, the Columbus Blue Jackets had also proposed to play home games without fans, due to Ohio governor Mike DeWine banning mass gatherings in the state.
But after the National Basketball Association (NBA) suspended all games when Rudy Gobert and another player tested positive for COVID-19 on the day that the World Health Organization declared the disease to be a pandemic, the NHL scheduled a meeting to discuss pausing the season. On March 12, morning practice sessions and media access for all teams were cancelled. Shortly after, they announced that the 2019–20 season had been paused indefinitely. This became the biggest interruption to regular NHL season games since the 2012–13 NHL lockout. All players and hockey staff were asked to self-quarantine in their home cities until further notice.
One of the players from the Ottawa Senators had tested positive for COVID-19 on March 17. Four days later, on March 21, it was announced that a second Senators player tested positive for COVID-19. Two Colorado Avalanche players also tested positive for the virus. On April 4, the originally intended date for the final games of the regular season, Commissioner Gary Bettman participated in a call with U.S. president Donald Trump and other sport commissioners on the state of the sport world.
Return to play with modified playoff format.
On May 22, the league and the NHLPA agreed on a basic framework to stage a 24-team playoff tournament behind closed doors. The details of the plan were announced publicly on May 26. The seeds would be based on each club's points percentage when the season paused on March 12 (effectively scrapping the remainder of the regular season and making this the first season in NHL history where some teams played more regular season games than others in a year that did not have a team fold during the regular season). The top four seeds in each conference would get a bye, while the next eight seeds in each conference would play in a best-of-five series. Many of the logistics still needed to be negotiated, including COVID-19 testing protocols, visas, and whether these games would be held in one or more "hub" cities as the Canada–United States border would remain closed to non-essential travel until June 21. That same day, the U.S. government announced that foreign athletes would be exempted from pandemic-related travel bans still in effect.
On May 26, Bettman formally discussed aspects of the "Return to Play Plan", including the proposed 24-team playoff format (with the top four teams in each conference playing a round robin tournament under regular season overtime rules to determine their seeds), and modifications to the procedures for the Draft Lottery. Aspects of the format (including the possibility of a best-of-five format for the first and second round, and changes to bracketing) were still being negotiated, but it was stated that the conference finals and Stanley Cup Finals would still use a best-of-seven series. Bettman stated that at least two hub cities would be used for the playoffs, shortlisting hosts such as Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver. Health, testing, and security protocols would be in place at these sites.
On June 4, it was announced that the NHL and NHLPA had approved aspects of the format that had not yet been finalized during the May 26 briefing, with the first and second rounds proper using a best-of-seven format as usual, and all teams being reseeded after each round (to account for the lack of home advantage due to all games being played at a neutral site).
It was reported that the NHL planned to have one American host and one Canadian host. As Canada's "Quarantine Act" at the time required all travellers entering the country to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival, deputy commissioner Bill Daly stated that this may impact the ability to use Canadian host cities unless these issues can be addressed. On June 10, British Columbia Premier John Horgan stated that the province's medical officer Bonnie Henry had endorsed proposed protocols developed by the Vancouver Canucks in collaboration with local officials, and that they were being sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for federal approval. These included allowing the NHL to "cohort" players and restrict their access to the general public.
Phase 2 of the "Return to Play Plan" began on June 8. Players were allowed to resume use of team practice facilities in small groups (no more than six), with only players allowed on-ice and no other agents or press admitted. Players had to self-isolate for 14 days if they used public transport, and were regularly monitored and tested for COVID-19. If a player tests positive, they could not attend training until they had been cleared, with teams suggested to use guidelines issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Training camps (phase 3) were planned to reopen on July 10. Amidst an intense growth of new cases in Florida, the Tampa Bay Lightning temporarily closed their training facility on June 19 after several staff members and three players tested positive for COVID-19.
On June 24, Sportsnet reported that Vancouver's bid had been complicated by disagreements over protocols for positive cases. The next day, Global BC's Richard Zussman reported that the NHL had "moved on [for now]" from Vancouver, and was increasing its focus on Edmonton and Toronto as potential sites. While Las Vegas was initially considered a front-runner, a spike of cases in Nevada and other U.S. states led to reports on July 1 that the NHL had decided on Edmonton and Toronto as the sites.
On July 10, the