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Morning party people!
Nothing official from the league itself yet, but the MSM have all but confirmed that Edmonton and Toronto will be the NHL’s two Hub Cities, with Edmonton tipped to host both Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Finals at Rogers Place.
With Edmonton and Toronto being chosen as the two NHL Hub cities, the question most often asked now is, which of the two will play host to the Stanley Cup final and Conference finals?
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 2, 2020
The answer, apparently, is Edmonton.
UPDATE - but wait, there’s more:
As a follow up on the perils of play-by-play pandemic reporting, where the only constant is change, it has now been suggested to me that while EDM is quite likely to host the Stanley Cup final, it can’t be called fully locked in at this moment in time.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 2, 2020
Looking at the Oilers roster for Phase 3 of camp, set to open around July 10th.
Dave Tippett is just about finished his 14-day quarantine after flying in from somewhere near Minnesota.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins joined the growing group of players training at Rogers Place yesterday.
An update on Dmitri Samorukov, who opted to spend next season in Russia’s KHL rather than waiting to see when (or, more likely, if) the AHL will resume in time.
This week in history, the Oilers traded Captain Doug Weight for a package including Marty Reasoner, Jochen Hecht, and Jan Horacek.
One piece of this pandemic I’m surely underrating is how significant an offseason’s worth of time off and training would be for Connor McDavid, who had to spend most of last summer rehabbing his leg. Look out.
Bleacher Report tried to predict the future of a handful of unrestricted free agents, including one Taylor Hall. Their prediction? Hall signs in Edmonton. A man can dream.
Speaking of free agents, rumor has it that the big date for UFAs this year will be November 1.
Have a great weekend and we’ll see you on the other side!
From Us
The Cup is Coming Home To Edmonton (Copper and Blue)
Hot Links: Thursday, July 2 (Copper and Blue)
Oilers Extend Affiliation with Wichita Thunder (Copper and Blue)
From Elsewhere
Oilers, Wichita Thunder Extend Affiliation (Oilers Rig)
Glass Half-Full For Top Edmonton Oilers Goaltending Prospects (Journal)
Edmonton And Toronto Are Your NHL Hub Cities (Probably) (THN)
Oilers Phase 3 Camp Roster: Top 4 Prospects (THW)
Oilers Head Coach Dave Tippett Is Healthy And Ready For Phase 3 Camp (Sun)
Edmonton Oilers Ryan Nugent-Hopkins The Latest To Hit Rogers Place Ice (Oilersnation)
Oilers Pipeline: Depth On Blue Line Good News For Samorukov (Sun)
Throwback Thursday: This Week In 2001, Edmonton Oilers Trade Doug Weight (Oilersnation)
Stanley Cup Coming To Edmonton And McDavid Underrated? (Oilersnation)
NHL Free Agents 2020: Latest Predictions For Taylor Hall, Evgenii Dadonov, More (B/R)
For Money
DGB Mailbag: Could a team of 20 Zdeno Charas beat a team of 20 Johnny Gaudreaus? (Athletic)
How Edmonton and Toronto became the NHL’s hub cities for return to play (Athletic)