Jarome Iginla, Marian Hossa, Ken Holland, Kevin Lowe, Kim St-Pierre, and Doug Wilson have been selected as the 2020 Hockey Hall of Fame class, the Hall announced Wednesday.

Iginla and Hossa were both elected in their first year of eligibility.

Holland will be the lone inductee in the builder category.

Iginla authored a brilliant 20-year career, 16 seasons of which he spent as the heart-and-soul leader of the Calgary Flames. The 42-year-old racked up 625 goals and 1,300 points in 1,554 career contests, helping the Flames reach Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2004.

Like Iginla, Hossa was also one of the best wingers of his era. The 41-year-old was a key contributor on three championship teams with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he spent eight of his 19 campaigns. Hossa notched 525 goals and 1,134 points in 1,309 games.

Holland, the current Edmonton Oilers general manger, spent 36 years with the Detroit Red Wings, including 22 as GM. He was the architect of four Stanley Cup championship squads over that span (three as the GM), and built the club into a perennial powerhouse that made the playoffs a whopping 25 straight times from 1991 to 2016.

Lowe, a current Oilers alternate governor, will be inducted as a player. The former defenseman was an important part of Edmonton's dynasty in the 1980s and early 1990s, helping the team win the Cup five times before capturing another title with the New York Rangers in 1994.

St-Pierre will be the only female inductee in this year's class. The former goaltender starred for Canada on the international stage, guiding the nation to three Olympic gold medals and five IIHF World Championship crowns.

Wilson, the current San Jose Sharks GM, was inducted as a player. He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top blue-liner in 1982, and was nominated for the award five times. WIlson played 14 of his 16 seasons with the Blackhawks, registering 827 points in 1,024 contests.

The induction ceremony is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 16 in Toronto. However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Hall isn't currently accepting ticket orders for the 2020 event.

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Construction of the event center that will serve as the Calgary Flames' new home is set to begin in August 2021, according to The Canadian Press.

The city of Calgary and the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation (CSEC) agreed last year to split the cost of the $550-million project, which is scheduled for completion in May 2024.

The building will be located on the eastern side of downtown Calgary, just north of the Scotiabank Saddledome, where the Flames have played since 1983. The Saddledome will be demolished once the team moves into the new event center.

The venue will feature an arena with up to 19,000 seats and will also become home to the Western Hockey League's Calgary Hitmen and National Lacrosse League's Calgary Roughnecks, both of which are owned by CSEC.

U.S. architectural and engineering firm HOK is helping design the new building in partnership with Calgary company Dialog. HOK was the lead designer of Edmonton's Rogers Place, Detroit's Little Caesars Arena, and Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Along with the expansion of a convention center on the Calgary Stampede grounds, the new venue will be part of one phase of a revitalization plan for the area.

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After diving into the mini-tournament for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, we'll now look at the Western Conference.

The format

The teams that ranked first through fourth in their conference at the end of the abbreviated regular season will play each other in a round-robin tournament to determine seeding in the 16-team playoff bracket. The clubs will all play each other once at a neutral venue, with the overall winner claiming the conference's top playoff seed.

St. Louis Blues (+180)

The defending Stanley Cup champions are the favorites to claim the top seed in the West, and while there's a case to be made for them as the best team in the conference, the Blues have to be avoided at such a short price. There is too much volatility that exists in a three-game round robin, especially one played on neutral ice following a lengthy layoff.

The Blues have very few holes and are a well-coached team, but they play with a certain tenacity that will be lacking as teams get their legs under them. There's just not enough evidence to suggest the Blues would flourish in low-intensity hockey to feel comfortable backing them at these short odds.

Vegas Golden Knights (+275)

As mentioned above, it's safe to say the start of this seeding tournament will lack the usual intensity and ferocity of playoff hockey due to the extended hiatus.

Less intensity means less hitting and fewer penalties. That doesn't bode well for a Knights team that often relies on a physical brand of hockey - Vegas was fourth in the NHL in hits per game - and benefited from a top-10 power play. At +275, the Knights wouldn't be my first choice.

Colorado Avalanche (+280)

Instead, my first choice would be the Avalanche. This round-robin tournament feels like the perfect storm for Colorado. The Avs have by far the youngest core of the four teams involved - with all of their top players aged 26 years old or younger - meaning they will likely be the least impacted by the long layoff.

They'll also benefit from the lack of intensity and dependence on special teams. This season, the Avalanche were tied for the most five-on-five goals in the NHL, had the least efficient power play of the four clubs involved, and were near the bottom of the NHL in hits per game. Give me all the Colorado stock I can buy at +280.

Dallas Stars (+500)

At first glance, there also appears to be some value with the Stars, a team that's suited for a dull, grind-it-out brand of hockey. Dallas relies heavily on defense and has allowed the second-fewest five-on-five goals in the NHL this season.

However, in that regard, the Avalanche and Blues are a very close third and fourth, respectively. Additionally, both teams score a ton more than the Stars, who have managed the second-fewest five-on-five goals scored, only ranking ahead of the Detroit Red Wings.

Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.

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With the NHL on track to resume its season, some of the league's older coaches are ready to return behind the bench, even though they're aware of the risks they'll have to assume.

"No doubt you're thinking of the different options you may have, whether it's wearing a mask, to what extent you are going to deal with your team and players," 60-year-old Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien said, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun. "I know it may be a challenge behind the bench more than anywhere else, but my thinking is that I need to be ready to adjust and have options when that time comes, depending on where we are at with COVID and our hockey circumstance."

Julien added: "That also means pulling myself out if I feel a real danger. My family and life are more important than my job at that point."

The NHL isn't planning to implement any age-based restrictions on its coaches. It will be up to each individual to determine if they are comfortable participating or not.

There are currently 12 active members on NHL coaching staffs who will be 60 or older by the end of June, LeBrun added.

Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness expressed his fear of contracting the virus, saying, "I've been giving it an awful lot of thought. Without a doubt. I'm 65." However, the oldest bench boss in the NHL is putting his trust in the league and is yearning to see what Phases 3 and 4 of its return-to-play plan will look like.

"We'll have to see how it all looks when we get there," Bowness said. "You've got to trust that the league and everyone is doing everything they can to protect us all. Until I get there and see how it's all laid out. If the safety and precautions are being met, then yeah, we'll go ahead with it."

The NHL is aiming to launch full training camps leaguewide July 10. Coaches and training personnel haven't been permitted to be on the ice with players during Phase 2.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-opened their facilities to players for voluntary Phase 2 workouts, according to Sportsnet's Chris Johnston.

The Bolts closed their facilities on June 19 after unnamed players and staff members tested positive for COVID-19.

Florida is considered a coronavirus hotbed. It reported 5,508 new cases overnight, bringing the total to 109,014, according to CNBC, citing data published by the state's health department.

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Vegas Golden Knights enforcer Ryan Reaves believes the 2020 postseason will be as intense as ever with the anticipation of hockey's return continuing to build throughout the NHL's lengthy hiatus.

“You’re sitting at home for four months, training, trying to stay ready for this,” Reaves said, according to The Athletic's Jesse Granger. “Do you want to waste that four months for three games or five games? No. You’re going to battle your ass off.”

“There’s no time to act like this is an exhibition or a tuneup, because it’s not," he added. "I expect the very first game, very first puck drop, to be a playoff atmosphere, because you only get one shot. I expect it to be absolute wars out there.”

Reaves' Golden Knights, along with the St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, and Colorado Avalanche, will compete in a round-robin tournament to decide the top four Western Conference seeds as part of the league's expanded 24-team playoff format.

Vegas won 11 of its final 13 contests before the season was suspended March 12, and Reaves believes the club can carry that momentum into the summer in hopes of capturing the franchise's first Stanley Cup.

“I’m anxious to get back on the ice, and I think everybody on this team is,” Reaves said. “We know we have a good team, and we have a good shot at winning the Stanley Cup. I know a lot of teams are going to say that, but we really believe that. We got the pieces. We were proving it down the stretch.”

The Golden Knights' tough guy, who led the club with 47 penalty minutes this season, is also excited to continue throwing his weight around.

“I’m getting the itch to put my fist through somebody’s face, or lay somebody out through the boards,” Reaves said.

Training camps are slated to begin July 10, but the league and players' association have yet to agree on an exact date for Phase 4 of the return-to-play plan, which is the official resumption of play.

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Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment resubmitted its bid for Toronto as an NHL hub city on the weekend and now proposes that players and personnel would live on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds just outside of the downtown core, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reports.

The bid presents the idea of a "40-acre campus-like bubble" that would grant players access to facilities including Toronto FC's BMO Field, Coca-Cola Coliseum (home of the AHL's Toronto Marlies), the Toronto Raptors' practice facility, and Hotel X, which has 400 rooms, according to LeBrun. He added that MLSE would be willing to add other features such as food trucks and an outdoor movie theatre.

Toronto's initial bid apparently focused on creating a bubble in the downtown core closer to Scotiabank Arena.

The league recently cut its shortlist of hub cities from 10 to six. Columbus and Pittsburgh were officially eliminated from contention, while Minneapolis/St. Paul and Dallas are reportedly out of the mix as well.

Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Chicago, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Toronto are apparently the six remaining contenders to host the NHL's 24-team playoff format.

The NHL reportedly expanded Phase 2 group sizes from six players to 12 on Tuesday and apparently isn't considering pushing back its July 10 start date for training camps despite 11 players testing positive for COVID-19 since Phase 2 began June 8.

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