Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Bettman: ‘Safety is paramount’ in NHL Return to Play, 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers

be4pbZj5M_gt
While nothing is risk free amid the pandemic, Gary Bettman believes the league has created a format where players can feel relatively safe, but that nothing can be taken for granted and nobody can let their guard down.

Gary Bettman stressed that “safety is paramount” while discussing the NHL Return to Play/2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers with Liam McHugh.

In the lengthy segment you can watch above, Bettman also sheds some light on the process. He explains that the NHL discussed some best-of-five series for the opening round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs (after the field of 24 in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers shrinks to the typical 16), but the players wanted best-of-seven series.

While Bettman seems optimistic about the bubble covering the safety bases during the NHL Return to Play, he also warns that players and others shouldn’t “take anything for granted” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

PHT’s 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier previews
Eastern Conference top seed round-robin preview
Penguins vs. Canadiens
Rangers vs. Hurricanes
Islanders vs. Panthers
Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets

Western Conference top seed round-robin preview
Jets vs. Flames
Oilers vs. Blackhawks
Predators vs. Coyotes
Wild vs. Canucks

NHL Power Rankings: Stanley Cup-less veterans to root for
2020 NHL Stanley Cup Qualifiers schedule


James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.