NHL postpones 2020 international events due to the coronavirus pandemic
By Mary Clarke
The NHL will not head overseas in 2020 for international events due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic, the league announced Friday.
The next time the NHL will play on international ice will be in 2021 at the earliest. On Friday, the league announced the postponement of any 2020 international events into next year, more than likely due to the coronavirus pandemic that has complicated travel plans and forced the cancellation of many mass gathering events.
The NHLPA also joint signed the short announcement as well, with the hopes that fans will return to see them in 2021.
"The NHLPA and the NHL remain committed to maintaining and growing our international presence. We hope that our fans overseas understand the need to postpone the 2020 games, but we look forward to being back with them in 2021."
The league did not have a major slate of international events for the rest of 2020, but were supposed to hold a handful of regular season games overseas. The Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators were set to open the 2020-21 season in Prague, Czech Republic, while the Columbus Blue Jackets and Colorado Avalanche were scheduled to play a pair of regular season games in Helsinki, Finland.
As a part of their season opener plans, the Bruins and Predators were set to hold their training camps in front of international fans in Germany and Switzerland before the season began.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL has had to postpone other events in their 2020 calendar, which include the 2020 NHL Draft, the awards and the scouting combine to a later date. The NHL is optimistic those events can be held this season, but given the nature of the pandemic and the shifting of the remainder of the 2019-20 season, the league’s postponement of their international events for this year should not come as a surprise.
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