Arenas in Seattle, New York still on track
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a wrench into the plans of most businesses and organizations across the globe, and the NHL is certainly no exception. They were forced to halt play in March and have yet to begin playing games again or confirmed a date as to when teams can officially return to practice.
Despite the lack of action on the ice though, there has still been a ton of work taking place off it according to a report released by ESPN on Wednesday. The report suggests that the outbreak has not slowed down work on new arenas being built in Seattle and New York and that both are still expected to open for the start of the 2021=22 season.
“We haven’t lost any time, and at the moment there’s no change to our schedule,” Katie Townsend, vice president of corporate communications for NHL Seattle told ESPN. “I think it’s something where we have to have contingency plans, and be working on them, but we don’t foresee it being a change in our schedule.”
The report states that while the Seattle arena projected did have shut down for two days in March because of fears regarding the coronavirus, but workers could continue once it was deemed an essential construction project.
The NHL’s newest expansion team has yet to announce its name or logo yet, but the league’s 32nd team is set to begin play at the start of the 2021-22 season in the Western Conference.
Unlike in Seattle though, construction on the New York Islanders’ new building has been halted since March 27th, as it was not deemed essential construction. The arena is being built in Belmont Park near Elmont, New York.
“The governor has given some indication that selective construction will start up again in some time frame. So, we’re ready to go again,” Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky said according to ESPN. “Obviously, the most important thing is that you adhere to social distancing and you make sure the people on site are taking care of themselves. It’s an open-air site, still, so we’re hopeful that we’ll be able to start the construction again when it’s appropriate.”
After splitting games between Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Uniondale’s Nassau Coliseum for the past two seasons, the plan is for the Islanders to play all their games in Uniondale next year before moving into their new facility.
Prior to the NHL season being suspended on March 12th, the New York Islanders were sitting just one point outside of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 68 games played. Last year, was the first time in three seasons the Islanders reached the postseason and the franchise was looking to make it back-to-back seasons with playoff hockey.
The franchise began play in 1972, winning four Stanley Cups since then. All four came back in the 80s though, with the club struggling to stay competitive in recent years. Since 1988, the club has only won a total of four rounds in the playoffs.
