Despite fan pressure, Gary Bettman insists on “taking his time” in planning 2021 NHL season

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has finally admitted that his previous target of January 1st, 2021 for the NHL's start date seems unlikely.

"That is a work in progress, influenced largely by what we're hearing from the medical experts, and we talk to some pretty highly placed people without name-dropping," Bettman said Wednesday.

"COVID[-19] is going through a second wave, which could be worse than the first wave, and between Thanksgiving and the aftermath and what they think is going to happen for Christmas and the aftermath, we are taking our time and making sure that as we look for ways to move forward we're focused on health and safety and doing the right things."

Of course, the unsaid thing in all of this is the commissioner's insistence that the players give up an additional $300 million prior to the puck dropped on the season. Still, Bettman insists that the only thing standing in the way of a 2021 NHL season is the go-ahead from medical professionals.

"I think this is perhaps the most important thing," the Commissioner said. "What we're focused on is trying to get through the '20-21 season so that we can be back in position for '21-22 to normalcy. … We are hopeful and optimistic based on everything we're hearing that we can look at normalcy by the time we get to '21-22 whatever happens this season."

Needless to say, travel and quarantining logistics are also making things difficult for Bettman and the NHL.

"If you're playing a regular schedule of games, you can't quarantine players for 14 days as you're moving in and out of the country, which is why, among the other issues that are going to impact a possible season, is we literally would have to realign and create a situation where maybe the teams in Canada only play each other, and we have to realign the way all of our teams are playing competitively," the Commissioner said.

"It's part of the myriad of issues that we're dealing with, which is why when people say, 'Oh, well, they're trying to renegotiate,' the answer to all of this is, we've got a lot of issues and a lot of problems to deal with, and the system is going to be stressed for everyone. And is there an appetite for working through all of those issues?"