Blackhawks: When Will The 2020 NHL Playoffs Start?

Here’s everything we know after Gary Bettman’s press conference today, along with when the Chicago Blackhawks will make a return to the playoffs.

The Chicago Blackhawks are finally back in the playoffs due to a small loophole due to COVID-19. Some people are anti-hockey being back, due to player safety concerns, but if the NHL does things right, there shouldn’t be any problems.

For starters, it’s nice to see some normalcy coming back to our lives, after being locked up in our houses for months on end. It’s been rough, especially when we haven’t had any sports to watch until UFC came around a few weeks ago.

Like Dana White said, sports can return if they want to if leagues are willing to spend the money.

"“Listen, it’s expensive. You’re going to lose your live gate, which is millions and millions of dollars. You’re going to lose a lot of money. And it’s going to cost you a lot of money now to put on the sport, to make sure that it is safe. It can be done. The question is are they willing to do it.”"

The NHL has taken to that model, as they announced last weekend that hockey will be returning.

It seems like Gary Bettman has a solid group around him, as he’s put together one of the smartest playoff formats, one that not many of us were expecting. First off, there is no set time of a return, rumors of it as soon as July, in two different cities.

It looks like there won’t be any fans in attendance.

The two cities will be determined within three to four weeks, with each conference having just one. Once the playoffs start, Round 1 and Round 2 could either be a best-of-five or best-of-seven. It’s not determined yet.

It is TBD if the playoffs will go through a bracket format or a seeding format. For those wondering, the Top 4 teams in each conference will play a round-robin tournament to determine the top seeding. With that being at play, I would expect a seeding format to happen instead of a bracket format, it makes more sense.

The NHL won’t start play-in games until late-July, maybe even the first week of August. This could have a Stanley Cup awarded in late September or even early October. The NHL would have to slim down the 2021 season, something Gary Bettman is against doing, at the moment.

More will come out within the next few weeks, giving us a clearer view of everything. I am excited for hockey to return.