Islanders: Dates set for phase four of return to play (Report)

A report indicates when the New York Islanders may hit the ice for Phase 4.

We know that the New York Islanders are set to open training camp as part of Phase 3 of the NHL’s return to play plan on July 10. And we know that after training camp, the Isles, and the other 23 teams still playing will head to their designated hub city to start Phase 4 of the NHL’s plan.

We don’t yet know for sure how long training camp might be and we don’t yet know when Phase 4 is set to open or where the Isles will play when it eventually does. But a report from the New York Post on Saturday shed some light on a few of those questions.

More Dates

A New York Post report states that dates for Phase 4 are all but officially set. That includes dates for training camp, exhibition games, roster limits, and testing.

Here’s a highlight of the report:

• Qualifying round to start July 30
• Training camp to last approximately two-weeks
• One exhibition game
• 30 player training camp roster (no limit on goalies)
• 28 player tournament roster (no limit on goalies)
• COVID testing every other day

Again, none of this is confirmed by the NHL or the NHLPA. But most of this information fits with expectations that have been tossed about for a while now.

The Post also reports that hub cities will be selected within the next week or so. We know that the NHL has cut the list of hub cities still in the running down from ten to six. All three Canadian cities (Edmonton, Toronto, Vancouver) are still in the running.

If this holds, the NHL will have taken a significant step forward to re-establish their season while the two other major North American sports leagues still try to sort themselves out. Something that would give the NHL a clear monopoly of the North American sports landscape, at least temporarily.