Wayne Gretzky Says 'I Really Believe' NHL and Other Sports Will Return in Summer

The Great One is keeping the faith.

"I really believe somehow, someway, that the leadership in this country and in Canada, that we're going to figure this out," Hall of Fame NHL player Wayne Gretzky told the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). "And I really believe that we'll see hockey and some sort of other sports in June, July and August, albeit in a different way, but I really see it coming to fruition. I think it's going to happen."

NHL Players Association executive director Donald Fehr told ESPN's Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski on Saturday that the NHL and NHLPA "haven't had those discussions yet" regarding where specifically an altered Stanley Cup playoffs could take place this summer. 

"Other than the general understanding that they're looking at all possibilities, which includes neutral sites—neutral being defined as a place that isn't a home base for an NHL team," Fehr said.

The NHL suspended its 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12:

The regular season was originally scheduled to end on April 4.

On April 10, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly relayed an air of uncertainty to Kaplan and Wyshynski as to whether the league will resume the regular season, jump right into the postseason or be able to salvage 2019-20 at all:

"We do have people putting together the comprehensive laundry list of what we would need from facilities and evaluating some facilities on some level," Daly said. "But I can't tell you we've even finished creating a list [of potential sites], much less narrowed it down.

"From our perspective, the paramount consideration here is what is safe and is going to protect the health and well-being of our players and obviously the general public. It may not be on the calendar a real long way away, but it is on a decision tree, a real long way away."

Commissioner Gary Bettman had already told NBC Sports' Mike Tirico that the ability to finish this season at least tangentially depends on how it might affect next season:

"We want to be ready to go as soon as we get a green light, and the green light may not be crystal clear because there may still some places in the country where you can't play and other places where you can. We're looking at all options. Nothing's been ruled in, nothing's been ruled out, and it's largely going to be determined what we do by how much time there is because we have next season to focus on as well and the health of the country—and by the country I mean both Canada and the U.S. obviously."

The NBA and Major League Soccer also suspended their respective seasons beginning on March 12. Major League Baseball delayed its Opening Day, which was meant to happen on March 26 but still does not have a new date.

Like in the NHL, the NBA and MLB are each reportedly exploring neutral-site options to return to game action.