(Reuters) – The NHL, which has postponed more than 100 games because of issues related to COVID-19, unveiled an updated schedule on Wednesday that it said would allow teams to complete their full regular season by the original April 29 closing date.
As part of the changes, the break in the schedule that was designated previously as a pause to accommodate National Hockey League player participation in the Beijing Olympics will now see 95 games played during the Feb. 7-22 period.
In all, the update includes new dates for 98 games that had been postponed over a two-month period from mid-November to mid-January and date changes for 23 other games to accommodate the new dates for postponed games.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a news release the league was grateful to fans, teams, players and the NHL Players’ Association for their cooperation in a “rescheduling of unprecedented logistical complexity”.
The disruption to the NHL’s schedule convinced the league to announce in December its decision not to participate in the Feb. 4-20 Beijing Olympics so it could use that time to reschedule some of the postponed games.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Toby Davis)
