Brandon Wade / Associated Press
Vegas Golden Knights forward Max Pacioretty (67) battles Dallas Stars goaltender Ben Bishop (30) and defenseman Roman Polak (45) for a rebound during the second period of an NHL hockey game Friday, Dec. 13, 2019, in Dallas.
Published Friday, July 10, 2020 | 4:28 p.m.
Updated Friday, July 10, 2020 | 4:39 p.m.
The Golden Knights will play their next meaningful game Aug. 3 against the Dallas Stars in Edmonton, 148 days after their last game of the regular season, the NHL and NHLPA announced today as more details of their return-to-play plan came to light.
Vegas is taking part in a three-game round robin against the other top teams in the Western Conference for playoff seeding. The Golden Knights will play the Stars on Aug. 3, the St. Louis Blues on Aug. 6 and the Colorado Avalanche on Aug. 8 before advancing to the playoff tournament on Aug. 11.
Games will begin locally at either 11 a.m., 3:30 p.m. or 7:30 p.m. Vegas will also play a to-be-determined exhibition game before their round-robin, on either July 28, 29 or 30. TV information will be "released in the coming days."
“While we have all worked very hard to try to address the risks of COVID-19, we know that health and safety are and will continue to be our priorities,” commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “We know that all of our fans are excited about our return to the ice next month and that has been our goal since we paused our season on March 12.”
It will be a 24-team postseason, with the top four teams in each conference taking part in a seeding round-robin and the other eight competing in a best-of-five play-in series. The Western Conference will be housed in Edmonton, while the Eastern Conference will be housed in Toronto. The conference finals and Stanley Cup Final will take place in Edmonton.
“This agreement is a meaningful step forward for the players and owners, and for our game, in a difficult and uncertain time,” NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said in a statement. “We are pleased to be able to bring NHL hockey back to the fans. We look forward to the NHL’s continued growth here in North America and on the world stage.”
The qualifying round and round-robin begin Aug. 1, with the Round of 16 starting Aug. 11. The rest of the dates are tentative, but the second round is scheduled to begin Aug. 25, with the conference finals beginning Sept. 8. The Stanley Cup Final is tentatively scheduled to begin Sept. 22 and end Oct. 4.
Justin Emerson can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Justin on Twitter at twitter.com/@j15emerson.
