The Flames and Oilers have made the playoffs!.As have the Canuck and Jets!.National Hockey League commissioner Gary Bettman made the announcement Tuesday that 12 teams in each division would make the 2020 playoffs to be held in two hub cities..Those hub cities will be announced at a later date, but Edmonton and Vancouver are still in the running..Bettman announced a gradual return to play where the health and safety of the players, coaches and fans are “paramount.”. POLL: Many Albertans say they will ignore Christmas COVID lockdown .He announced the 2019-2020 regular season is now officially considered over and 24 of 31 teams will “honour the tradition” of the playoffs..Bettman said the plan is to have small groups of players training by early June and full training camps could be open by early July..The host cities were not revealed because Bettman said “things are involving rapidly….we want the best available information at the time” of the announcement. He said each team would be allowed to bring no more than 50 people to the hub city..Bettman said the top four teams in each division would play each other in a round-robin format to determine seedings..The bottom eight teams would play a best-of-five series to determine their seedings..Out west, that means Calgary will play Winnipeg, Edmonton takes on Chicago, and Vancouver will play Minnesota..Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has been the top salesman for having Edmonton as one of the hub cities..Noting the “beating heart of hockey is on the Prairies”, Kenney said Edmonton has been a “star performer” in the battle against COVID-19..“Edmonton is about the safest place they could find on the continent,” said the premier, noting the city has a very low number of coronavirus victims..“We also have the best facilities in the Rogers Place, attached to a new hotel… that would keep the players and staff safe,” said Kenney at a Tuesday press conference..“This would be great for Alberta, great for the province.”.…More to come.Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.TWITTER: Twitter.com/nobby7694
