Colorado Avalanche: Best Hub City for Phase 4

DENVER, CO - APRIL 17: Fans head for the arena as the Minnesota Wild face the Colorado Avalanche in Game One of the First Round of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Pepsi Center on April 17, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Wild 5-4 in overtime to take a 1-0 game advantage in the series. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 17: Fans head for the arena as the Minnesota Wild face the Colorado Avalanche in Game One of the First Round of the 2014 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Pepsi Center on April 17, 2014 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Wild 5-4 in overtime to take a 1-0 game advantage in the series. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
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colorado avalanche
colorado avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche will play in one of the six cities the NHL and NHLPA are still deciding on for when the playoffs take place.

The Colorado Avalanche have a clearer idea of where they’re going to be playing for the playoffs in August. The NHL has officially eliminated Columbus, Pittsburgh, St. Paul/Minneapolis and Dallas from hosting the playoffs.

That leaves five Western Conference cities and one Eastern Conference city. LA, Vegas, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Chicago are the western cities, while Toronto is the lone eastern city. The NHL is expected to announce the two hub cities at the end of the week.

Training camp is set to start July 10 in teams’ home cities. They’ll travel to their hub city between July 23 and 24 with the playoffs staring July 30.

As of right now, it’s thought Vegas is almost sure to be a hub city with Vancouver and Edmonton tied for the other hub. Toronto is going to get a big boost, though, because it’s eastern and because it’s the capitol of hockey.

That’s for the NHL and NHLPA to decide. They want players to be in a bubble with hotels and restaurants near the hockey facilities.

From an Avalanche’s perspective, let’s look at the potential hub cities.