NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is confident the league will be able to finish its season and award the Stanley Cup, saying cancelling the rest of the year is "not something I’m even contemplating.”

Speaking at a virtual town hall hosted by the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday, Bettman said cancelling would be "too easy" of a solution.

“States are reopening, cities are reopening,” Bettman said, according to the San Jose Mercury News. “And if we do the right things, I think we’ll be able to finish the season.”

The NHL - and much of the sports world - was brought to a halt on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Professional leagues like the NHL, NBA, MLS and MLB are working hard to figure out solutions on how to return to action.

The NHL is discussing many ways to finish the season, including axing the remaining regular schedule and jumping straight to the playoffs. The league is hoping to progress to Phase 2 of its return-to-play protocol, which calls for teams to open facilities for players to train in small groups, by the end of the month.

“We would like to bring a conclusion to this season,” Bettman said. “It’s got to be fair, it’s got to have integrity, and if we have to do it over the summer on some modified basis, then we’ll do it on that basis.”

On Tuesday, Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly spoke to British Columbia premier John Horgan about a Pacific Division hub for a potential restart.

Acknowledging there are lots of obstacles ahead, Horgan believes that Vancouver would be a good place to host with the Canucks also having had positive dialogue with the provincial government.

The NHL has said it would be okay with pushing back the start of next season in order to finish this one, but has made it a priority to complete a full 82-game campaign in 2020-21.

The NHL did not award a champion in 1919 due to the Spanish Flu and in 2005 because of the lockout.