24 Team Playoff Format

[maas_art]

11 hours ago, CaptWelly said:

I won't shed one tear if they don't get to see their family for maybe a couple months. There are a lot of jobs that people are gone for extended periods of time and the workers aren't spoiled in top notch hotels and making millions. So yes it may be unfortunate if it does happen but it's not the end of the world.

There's a pretty major difference here though. 

People who work jobs who are gone from seeing their families for extended periods of time know that going in.  NHL players have never been told this is a prerequisite for playing the game.  Sure, they may go on long road trips for a couple of weeks but months? That's fairly "extreme" by the established standard of the NHL schedule.

At the end of the day they are, as you said, ridiculously well-compensated compared to 99.9% of the work force so I am sure that they will buckle down and do it, but I will feel bad for some of them, especially those with young children.

What if your wife was 7 months pregnant in July? Then you would potentially miss the birth of your child? or if your parent or someone close was ill? you wouldn't be there to be with them?  I'm sure that players will be allowed to leave at any time if there are family emergencies but then, I would assume, they would be not be allowed to return to play unless they isolated for 2 weeks?   

Its going to be a bit of a logistical nightmare imho. 

[CaptWelly]

38 minutes ago, maas_art said:

There's a pretty major difference here though. 

People who work jobs who are gone from seeing their families for extended periods of time know that going in.  NHL players have never been told this is a prerequisite for playing the game.  Sure, they may go on long road trips for a couple of weeks but months? That's fairly "extreme" by the established standard of the NHL schedule.

At the end of the day they are, as you said, ridiculously well-compensated compared to 99.9% of the work force so I am sure that they will buckle down and do it, but I will feel bad for some of them, especially those with young children.

What if your wife was 7 months pregnant in July? Then you would potentially miss the birth of your child? or if your parent or someone close was ill? you wouldn't be there to be with them?  I'm sure that players will be allowed to leave at any time if there are family emergencies but then, I would assume, they would be not be allowed to return to play unless they isolated for 2 weeks?   

Its going to be a bit of a logistical nightmare imho. 

There are a lot of jobs where missing the birth of a child happens all the time. A lot of NHL players leave home in their teens to play in a higher league in hope of being someday in the NHL and are separated from their families for long periods of time, without being paid big money. Even those that go to college sometimes go a semester or longer before going home. My father was gone for 3 of the 4 children births. There used to be a time the man waited in the lounge or whatever wasn't in with the mother during child birth. Guess what everything still worked out fine. The alternative if it's such a hardship , they can quit and get a regular job!

[campabee82]

I do not understand all the resentment for NHL players wanting to be safe and with fàmily. If they didn't care about their families and just said all we want to do is play hockey then people would be all over them for being parachute dad's. You can't have it both ways! U actually respect the fact that even in this time of crisis they are wanting their families near them and to be as safe as they are. Which IF they are quarantined for 2 months they would be safer than the general public

[jennifer_rocket]

15 hours ago, habs1952 said:

LOL......training camp won't begin until July 10th at the earliest. 

Oh man. Just cancel the season already. At this rate the 2019-2020 playoffs won't begin until September/October 2020.

[CaptWelly]

1 hour ago, campabee82 said:

I do not understand all the resentment for NHL players wanting to be safe and with fàmily. If they didn't care about their families and just said all we want to do is play hockey then people would be all over them for being parachute dad's. You can't have it both ways! U actually respect the fact that even in this time of crisis they are wanting their families near them and to be as safe as they are. Which IF they are quarantined for 2 months they would be safer than the general public

I don't think it's a resentment by any means it's a just being a realist. This is not normal circumstances. They aren't being asked to go to a war zone or even deep sea. They will be somewhere that they will have access to good cell service , high speed internet zoom facetime ect . ect. Also the time frame is a minimal inconvenience. Players come from all over there are several that are from over seas and don't have their families with them. All I'm pointing out it isn't a giant hardship that some are making it out to be.  

[CaptWelly]

1 hour ago, jennifer_rocket said:

Oh man. Just cancel the season already. At this rate the 2019-2020 playoffs won't begin until September/October 2020.

I wouldn't be surprised to see a shortened season next year. Should be no pre season or all star break or additional breaks other than maybe Christmas.

[HabsAlways]

On 5/26/2020 at 9:53 PM, kinot-2 said:

I don't get it. He was signed to an ELC, what, 2 weeks ago? 

Player has to be signed to an ELC by December of that season to qualify for Post-season roster is what I understood

[maas_art]

On 5/26/2020 at 8:53 PM, kinot-2 said:

I don't get it. He was signed to an ELC, what, 2 weeks ago? 

He did. But with no start date. See below.
 

46 minutes ago, HabsAlways said:

Player has to be signed to an ELC by December of that season to qualify for Post-season roster is what I understood

Actually it doesnt have to be by then at all.  Vladislav Gavrikov signed his ECL in mid April last year & played with the bluejackets during the playoffs.  There have been others - Gusev in LV as well. 

The problem is that on March 12 when the NHL suspended its season they told teams: you can sign players, but only for next year. No new contracts for this year.  To get around that teams - like Montreal with Romanov - signed players but without a start date to the contract.

 

So until the NHL, NHLPA etc determine whether teams are indeed allowed to sign players for the 2019-20 season, Romanov wont be allowed to play.  

[kinot-2]

3 hours ago, maas_art said:

He did. But with no start date. See below.
 

Actually it doesnt have to be by then at all.  Vladislav Gavrikov signed his ECL in mid April last year & played with the bluejackets during the playoffs.  There have been others - Gusev in LV as well. 

The problem is that on March 12 when the NHL suspended its season they told teams: you can sign players, but only for next year. No new contracts for this year.  To get around that teams - like Montreal with Romanov - signed players but without a start date to the contract.

 

So until the NHL, NHLPA etc determine whether teams are indeed allowed to sign players for the 2019-20 season, Romanov wont be allowed to play.  

Thanks, Jed. 

 

[maas_art]

 

Per TSN & NHL Twitter:

 

The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association have agreed to open training camps on July 10 should it be deemed safe to do so. 

 

In an announcement on Thursday, the league said that the length of training camp and therefore, the start date for the formal resumption of play, is still to be determined.

The league announced its Return to Play plan on May 26, featuring a 24-team restart later this summer in two hub cities that have yet to be determined. The NHLPA confirmed last month that July 10 was the earliest possible start date for training camp.

The league’s Phase 2 began earlier this week where teams had the ability to open practices facilities for voluntary workouts in groups of up to six players.

While the NHL has still not given a firm date as to when games could begin, a July 10 training camp could open the door for an early-to-mid-August resumption in play if safety allows. Of the 24 returning teams, 16 will participate in a postseason play-in round while the other eight -- the top four from each conference -- will play one another to determine seeding.

As for the hub cities, the league said on May 26 they were still in the process of evaluating pitches but were considering 10 cities, including Canadian locales Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver. TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Frank Seravalli reported that Las Vegas was considered one of the frontrunners. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has also been vocal about Edmonton's candidacy and has lobbied the federal government to make an exception to a mandatory two-week quarantine for those crossing into Canada. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly has previously stated a cross-border hub city arrangement would be difficult for the league should a two-week quarantine be required for NHL players and personnel.

The league paused its regular season on March 12, one day after the NBA suspended their season after Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus and kick-started a domino effect that shutdown much of the sports world.

[campabee82]

20 minutes ago, maas_art said:

 

Per TSN & NHL Twitter:

 

The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players' Association have agreed to open training camps on July 10 should it be deemed safe to do so. 

 

In an announcement on Thursday, the league said that the length of training camp and therefore, the start date for the formal resumption of play, is still to be determined.

The league announced its Return to Play plan on May 26, featuring a 24-team restart later this summer in two hub cities that have yet to be determined. The NHLPA confirmed last month that July 10 was the earliest possible start date for training camp.

The league’s Phase 2 began earlier this week where teams had the ability to open practices facilities for voluntary workouts in groups of up to six players.

While the NHL has still not given a firm date as to when games could begin, a July 10 training camp could open the door for an early-to-mid-August resumption in play if safety allows. Of the 24 returning teams, 16 will participate in a postseason play-in round while the other eight -- the top four from each conference -- will play one another to determine seeding.

As for the hub cities, the league said on May 26 they were still in the process of evaluating pitches but were considering 10 cities, including Canadian locales Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver. TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Frank Seravalli reported that Las Vegas was considered one of the frontrunners. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has also been vocal about Edmonton's candidacy and has lobbied the federal government to make an exception to a mandatory two-week quarantine for those crossing into Canada. Deputy commissioner Bill Daly has previously stated a cross-border hub city arrangement would be difficult for the league should a two-week quarantine be required for NHL players and personnel.

The league paused its regular season on March 12, one day after the NBA suspended their season after Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus and kick-started a domino effect that shutdown much of the sports world.

I must admit I am both excited and disappointed with the Habs playing the play-in round. However IF they beat the Pens and make the actual playoffs we will see just how well we really measure up to the best teams in the league and that should change Molson's mind on keeping MB around.

[maas_art]

12 minutes ago, campabee82 said:

I must admit I am both excited and disappointed with the Habs playing the play-in round. However IF they beat the Pens and make the actual playoffs we will see just how well we really measure up to the best teams in the league and that should change Molson's mind on keeping MB around.

unless we win a couple of rounds we have no right to win, purely by luck and/or price goin' vintage carey - in which case molson will say 'wow' we're pretty good" when in fact we were mostly just lucky. 

[campabee82]

8 hours ago, maas_art said:

unless we win a couple of rounds we have no right to win, purely by luck and/or price goin' vintage carey - in which case molson will say 'wow' we're pretty good" when in fact we were mostly just lucky. 

That is what I was saying! LOL when he sees how bad we really are against the top teams like Boston hopefully he realizes that just making the playoffs is not how to build a contender. I am excited though just to watch meaningful games again though no matter how out matched we are! I feel like the Pens beat us in 3 maybe 4 games though.

[H_T_L]

Anybody else have a feeling that the higher seeded teams will get favourable reffing in this qualifying round??

[jennifer_rocket]

44 minutes ago, H_T_L said:

Anybody else have a feeling that the higher seeded teams will get favourable reffing in this qualifying round??

Nah. It'll just be garbage reffing all around (like usual). It'll vary game-to-game, period-to-period.

[H_T_L]

4 hours ago, jennifer_rocket said:

Nah. It'll just be garbage reffing all around (like usual). It'll vary game-to-game, period-to-period.

That too,,, but now these guys won't have the added pressure from the home crowd anymore. Carte blanche to do as they want IMO.

[campabee82]

6 hours ago, H_T_L said:

That too,,, but now these guys won't have the added pressure from the home crowd anymore. Carte blanche to do as they want IMO.

Sort of they still have to maintain some sort of integrity as the refs get eliminated every round as well. Remember when I think it was Pavelski fell face first into the ice and the sharks got a 5 minute PP? Those refs were kicked out of the rest of the playoffs for that one bad call. 

[jennifer_rocket]

13 hours ago, H_T_L said:

That too,,, but now these guys won't have the added pressure from the home crowd anymore. Carte blanche to do as they want IMO.

Maybe they'll do a better job without the hometown fans! 

[H_T_L]

10 hours ago, campabee82 said:

Sort of they still have to maintain some sort of integrity as the refs get eliminated every round as well. Remember when I think it was Pavelski fell face first into the ice and the sharks got a 5 minute PP? Those refs were kicked out of the rest of the playoffs for that one bad call. 

Now there's two words you  don't hear together often ,,,,, refs and integrity. 

[kinot-2]

SN:

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has put out a story saying Vegas will be confirmed as a hub city for the Stanley Cup Playoffs by June 22, but the truth is we should expect the official announcement before then.

[Habs_Hockey_Nutz]

18 hours ago, kinot-2 said:

SN:

The Las Vegas Review-Journal has put out a story saying Vegas will be confirmed as a hub city for the Stanley Cup Playoffs by June 22, but the truth is we should expect the official announcement before then.

Evidence that gambling in sports is where the NHL is truly at these days...

[Habs_Hockey_Nutz]

https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/1976690/health-matters-what-medical-experts-think-about-nhls-return-to-play-plan

Interesting considerations from a panel of health experts

[maas_art]

On 6/14/2020 at 4:38 AM, Habs_Hockey_Nutz said:

https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/1976690/health-matters-what-medical-experts-think-about-nhls-return-to-play-plan

Interesting considerations from a panel of health experts

" the places most likely to say, "Yeah, sure! Come on down!" are also the places likely to have the loosest regulations."

This is something ive been wondering about too.  Very interesting read.

[maas_art]

FWIW, Matt Murray is the likely starter for the Pens according to reports out of Pittsburgh.  Murray is 1-8, with a 900 SV% in his last 9 playoffs games.

[campabee82]

11 hours ago, maas_art said:

FWIW, Matt Murray is the likely starter for the Pens according to reports out of Pittsburgh.  Murray is 1-8, with a 900 SV% in his last 9 playoffs games.

Some of the comments you hear on TSN and Sportsnet from players makes you wonder if they are taking this seriously. Many do not want to play, others are skeptical the NHL could even pull it off and others still just want to be left alone to spend time with family. Maybe the Pens feel like they should just throw the series and take the high pick to basically say screw you to the league cause the majority do not want to return. I feel like with all of the new positive tests the season should just be cancelled or a player WILL die from this and unfortunately I think that is what it will take for the league to stop this ridiculousness and cancel the season.