Report: Idea of NHL teams playing in home rinks gaining steam

It appears short-term hubs may not be used for the 2020-21 season after all.

The idea of NHL teams playing games in their own arenas is gaining steam for the upcoming campaign, sources told TSN's Frank Seravalli.

This contradicts commissioner Gary Bettman's comments Tuesday in which he said the league was considering sending teams to a hub for 10-12 days to play games before going back home for a week. Although that idea still remains a possibility, it appears it wasn't overly popular during Thursday's Board of Governors meetings.

The significant price of operating bubbles and the potential loss of revenue with neutral-site games are among the leading reasons why the league prefers teams to travel from city to city to play, like MLB and the NFL have done. The NHL reportedly spent an estimated $75 million to $90 million on the playoff bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton.

The league is also apparently considering two-to-three game series against each opponent - similar to baseball - in order to reduce travel.

Teams would be permitted to have fans in their arenas in limited capacities - like the NFL has done - in certain regions that allow it.

The NHL is still targeting Jan. 1 as a start date and hopes it can finish the playoffs by mid-July before the Olympics begin. That timeline would seemingly provide four-to-five months for a regular season and two-to-three months for the postseason. A 48-game campaign is reportedly considered the minimum, but models of 62, 60, and 56 contests apparently exist.

During the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign, the league began its 48-game season Jan. 19 and had the Cup awarded June 24.

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