As the calendar flips to December, it has become abundantly obvious that the NHL’s plan to start the season in early January is nothing more than wishful thinking—despite what commissioner Gary Bettman says. As recently as last week, Bettman mentioned that the goal is for the 2021 season to begin on January 1st, but he is either lying to himself, the fans or both.
Over the past few weeks, the NHL and NHLPA have been working to find a way to get teams back on the ice early next year. Unfortunately, these talks have come with little to no progress as the two sides have very different visions of how things will work from a financial perspective.