The NHL and the NHLPA have announced the critical dates calendar for the upcoming 2020-21 season and made an adjustment to the off-side rule that should improve officials’ ability to make the right call during video reviews.
In addition to those announcements, the NHL also publically released its COVID-19 protocols for teams both at the rink and away from it.
The change made to the off-side rule relates to a player’s skate when crossing the blue line. Under the old language of the rule, a player’s skate had to be touching the blue line without crossing the far edge of the line for him to avoid being off-side. That means, if a player’s skate was lifted off the ice but still within the boundaries of the far edge of the line, he would be off-side.
Now, under the new language of the rule, the edge of the line will remain the barrier but the player’s skate no longer needs to be physically touching the blue line. The rule now reads as follows:
“Players of the attacking team must not precede the puck into the attacking zone.
“The position of the player’s skates and not that of his stick shall be the determining factor in all instances in deciding an off-side. A player is off-side when both skates are completely over the leading edge of the blue line involved in the play.
“A player is on-side when either of his skates are in contact with the blue line, or on his own side of the line, at the instant the puck completely crosses the leading edge of the blue line. On his own side of the line shall be defined by a “plane” of the blue line which shall extend from the leading edge of the blue line upwards. If a player’s skate has yet to break the “plane” prior to the puck crossing the leading edge, he is deemed to be on-side for the purpose of the off-side rule.”
The critical dates calendar covers everything from training camp into the next off-season, with many of these dates matching reporting from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Chris Johnston over the past few days. The dates listed below are subject to change as the world continues to adapt to life in a pandemic.
Dec. 31: Training camps open for the seven teams — Anaheim, Buffalo, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Ottawa and San Jose — that did not participate in this summer’s bubble playoffs.
Jan. 3: Training camps open for the remaining 24 teams.
Jan. 13: The 2020-21 regular season begins.
April 12: The trade deadline at 3 p.m. ET.
May 8: The final day of the regular season.
May 11: Expected first day of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
July 9: The last possible day of Stanley Cup Final.
July 17:The deadline for every team but the Golden Knights to submit their Protection List for the Seattle Kraken expansion draft at 5 p.m. ET.
July 21: The Seattle Kraken expansion draft at 8 p.m. ET.
July 23: Round 1 of the NHL Draft.
July 24: Rounds 2-7 of the NHL Draft.
July 28: Free agency opens at noon ET.
Finally, the NHL announced the health and safety rules that will cover this unique season during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can read the entire 54-page document here but some highlights include:
• Coaches must wear a mask during games, something they didn’t do during the summer playoffs.
• During training camps, the NHL will announce COVID-19 cases among the player pool anonymously. However, once the regular season starts, any players who do test positive for the virus will be identified.
• When an NHL player has a confirmed COVID-19 test result, any teammates identified as a close contact won’t be required to quarantine as long as they personally test negative, remain asymptomatic and don’t have a fever.
• Each team will have one hotel in their home city designated for all of their opponents to stay at. Housekeepers will not be allowed to enter rooms at any point while a team is staying in the hotel.
• Seating areas will be set up for players’ families in NHL arenas “to the extent permitted by local regulations.”
