The Elite League have announced a possible new season beginning in December, with pre-season games pencilled in for November.
The announcement of a possible season is one that will excite the fans four months since the premature end to the 2019/20 campaign, but is dependant on appropriate government guidelines.
But EIHL chairman Tony Smith ruled out the possibility of games being played behind closed doors as he gave a timeline for things to be put in place before any pucks drop.
“There are two factors that we need to consider with any return to play plan,” he said. “We need six to eight weeks from the time we know we can play in order to complete our teams, get work visas in place, book flights, buy equipment, etc.
EIHL Chairman Tony Smith has ruled out closed door games (PHOTO: Dean Woolley)
“Also, we need our fans. We cannot play behind closed doors or with very limited capacity and it just isn’t an option.”
All teams have voted to approve the proposed schedule, with the Magic 5 Weekend, originally pencilled in for the start of October now set for the beginning of December.
The regular season would end in the first weekend of May followed by the play-offs over the following two weekend, with the finals set for Nottingham on 15th and 16th May.
A statement on the EIHL website also stated all ten teams are committed for the new season as well.
Allan Petrie
14th July 2020 at 6:41 pm
And what are GB meant to do to prepare for Belarus?? This leaves them no time. They deserve better treatment after raising the profile of ice hockey in the UK higher than anyone ever has. 6 days to prepare against teams that will have had weeks of training and competitive games that are mostly high ranked teams. Surely there is a better solution somehow to avoid this.