Hockey

State of the NHL: Next season’s opener could ‘slip into January’ without fans in the seats to start, Bettman says

In his annual look at the league before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final, commissioner Gary Bettman said about the outlook for starting next season if the pandemic still prevents live crowds, a major source of revenue: “There’s full, there’s empty, there’s a combination ... how we start doesn’t necessarily mean that’s how we have to finish.”