Start Date for Next Season is Jan. 13.

[kinot-2]

IMO, training camp will start in late Nov.

Discuss. 

[habs1952]

LOL.....more summer hockey. 

[dreegking]

So that aint happening according to the announcement .. Ugh. More crap season.

 

[H_T_L]

The Vegas owner hinted to expect an all Canadian division with the border not expected to reopen anytime soon.

[maas_art]

5 minutes ago, H_T_L said:

The Vegas owner hinted to expect an all Canadian division with the border not expected to reopen anytime soon.

Makes the most sense.  Unless they turn things around in a hurry down there, theres no way the border will reopen any time soon. 

[H_T_L]

1 hour ago, maas_art said:

Makes the most sense.  Unless they turn things around in a hurry down there, theres no way the border will reopen any time soon. 

Their GM also mentioned there's not much appetite for playing in empty buildings as a lot of teams won't be able to bare the financial hit. He even hinted at a later abbreviated schedule in Feb.

[kinot-2]

From Friedman on Fan 590 today.

"I believe in the last few days the league and the players have engaged in conversations about a start on January 15, with training camps opening approximately two weeks earlier," Friedman said on the FAN 590's Lead Off. "The number of games would be in the 50s. I had some people telling me 52, I had some people telling me 56. But they have re-engaged on this.

"What I think they are talking about is the non-playoff teams would report in the last few days of December, they would get two or three extra days. The playoff teams would report around New Year's Day. I think the end of the regular season would be around the beginning of May, they'd build in that schedule with a buffer zone in case they had to make up games, and I'm hearing the season would be over some time around the end of June, beginning of July."

 

[maas_art]

4 minutes ago, kinot-2 said:

From Friedman on Fan 590 today.

"I believe in the last few days the league and the players have engaged in conversations about a start on January 15, with training camps opening approximately two weeks earlier," Friedman said on the FAN 590's Lead Off. "The number of games would be in the 50s. I had some people telling me 52, I had some people telling me 56. But they have re-engaged on this.

"What I think they are talking about is the non-playoff teams would report in the last few days of December, they would get two or three extra days. The playoff teams would report around New Year's Day. I think the end of the regular season would be around the beginning of May, they'd build in that schedule with a buffer zone in case they had to make up games, and I'm hearing the season would be over some time around the end of June, beginning of July."

The biggest hurdle is going to be inter-country travel. I still think the only way this happens is all canadian/all american regular season.  Even then, some big logistical nightmares. 

[kinot-2]

33 minutes ago, maas_art said:

The biggest hurdle is going to be inter-country travel. I still think the only way this happens is all canadian/all american regular season.  Even then, some big logistical nightmares. 

I forgot to add this:

As Sportsnet's Chris Johnston reported on Wednesday, there needs to be a complete realignment for the 2020-21 season to be played. Both sides will need to agree on a modified schedule, more health and safety protocols, and determine if the games will be played in regional hubs or in each team's arenas.

[maas_art]

1 hour ago, kinot-2 said:

I forgot to add this:

As Sportsnet's Chris Johnston reported on Wednesday, there needs to be a complete realignment for the 2020-21 season to be played. Both sides will need to agree on a modified schedule, more health and safety protocols, and determine if the games will be played in regional hubs or in each team's arenas.

I cant see them doing a regular season in a hub.  Its one thing when its the playoffs, guys will do things for the playoffs that they wouldnt for the reg season, but I cant see them going for that long in a hub city. My guess whatever happens each team will only play 5-6 other teams all year.   Its going to be a weird season. 

[H_T_L]

Most of Canada will be in lockdown by the end of this month. Can't see any scenario where the League starts in January.. They can talk and plan for it, but ultimately not gonna happen IMO.

[electron58]

On 12/4/2020 at 2:40 PM, H_T_L said:

Most of Canada will be in lockdown by the end of this month. Can't see any scenario where the League starts in January.. They can talk and plan for it, but ultimately not gonna happen IMO.

My feelings exactly. We can't even keep the numbers steady.  They keep rising all over. Gonna be a long winter.

[electron58]

From a few reports...................further to the above mentioned..............

TSN’s Frank Seravalli, THE ATHLETIC’s Pierre LeBrun and SPORTSNET’S Elliotte Friedman and Chris Johnston reported the NHL and NHLPA are making progress toward a possible 56-game schedule commencing around Jan. 15.

[jennifer_rocket]

The NHL had better get this in gear soon. I'm losing interest as time goes on. I assume many fans are.

[maas_art]

4 hours ago, jennifer_rocket said:

The NHL had better get this in gear soon. I'm losing interest as time goes on. I assume many fans are.

Possibly, but what we've seen with pretty much every major stoppage in sports is that once it gets going again, the fans come back.  In this case - since its no fault of the players or owners, there's a worldwide pandemic, not a  labour strike -  I think fans will come back even more than in the past. 

[kinot-2]

7 hours ago, jennifer_rocket said:

The NHL had better get this in gear soon. I'm losing interest as time goes on. I assume many fans are.

Give your head a shake, JR. 

2 hours ago, maas_art said:

Possibly, but what we've seen with pretty much every major stoppage in sports is that once it gets going again, the fans come back.  In this case - since its no fault of the players or owners, there's a worldwide pandemic, not a  labour strike -  I think fans will come back even more than in the past. 

Just imagine the players and teams who didn't make the play-in round for the last 9 mons. 

[kinot-2]

Jan. 13 is the targeted start date after both sides agreed to stick to the Memorandum Of Understanding in the new collective bargaining agreement that was established in June. The nuts and bolts of a compacted season can now be the focus.

For the Maple Leafs and six other Canadian teams — who are likely to be grouped in one division to avoid the closed American border — it’s shaping up as a 56-game schedule. That could mean eight or nine games against each other or double digits against teams that are geographically closer. The rest of the league’s realignment remains to be seen.

[maas_art]

25 minutes ago, kinot-2 said:

Jan. 13 is the targeted start date after both sides agreed to stick to the Memorandum Of Understanding in the new collective bargaining agreement that was established in June. The nuts and bolts of a compacted season can now be the focus.

For the Maple Leafs and six other Canadian teams — who are likely to be grouped in one division to avoid the closed American border — it’s shaping up as a 56-game schedule. That could mean eight or nine games against each other or double digits against teams that are geographically closer. The rest of the league’s realignment remains to be seen.

All Canadian league is going to be interesting for sure. 

I feel like Montreal/TO/Ottawa will play a lot of games together. Vancouver/Calgary/Edmonton will play a lot of games together & Winnipeg is going to be caught in the middle

[kinot-2]

1 hour ago, maas_art said:

All Canadian league is going to be interesting for sure. 

I feel like Montreal/TO/Ottawa will play a lot of games together. Vancouver/Calgary/Edmonton will play a lot of games together & Winnipeg is going to be caught in the middle

The Jets can play Kenora and Brandon, maybe even Thunder Bay. 

 

[kinot-2]

According to ESPN’s Greg Wyshyski, the season will kick off on January 13th and feature a 56-game season.

On Monday night, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that there would be a 10-day camp with no exhibition games. Dreger also reported that while there’s work left to be done, the expectation is the NHL Board of Governors will approve the plan.

One of the biggest blocks in the getting a season back in action was reported to be financial issues, however, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun confirmed through NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly that the league and player association moved past that.

Dreger added that there “will be no more discussions on proposed financial changes” to a memorandum of understanding in terms of the CBA.

As FlamesNation editor Ryan Pike noted on Twitter, a typical NHL season is 184 days long, or roughly 2.24 days per game. Pro-rating that over a 56-game season, it would be about 126 days long if the season started on Jan. 13 meaning the season would, in theory, end around May 18.

 

[H_T_L]

Still like to know how they get around the restrictions in a place like T.O. where they are in a grey zone and virtual lockdown? How does that business get priority over others? 

[habs1952]

43 minutes ago, H_T_L said:

Still like to know how they get around the restrictions in a place like T.O. where they are in a grey zone and virtual lockdown? How does that business get priority over others? 

You're really going to be pissed off when you hear they're getting covid vaccines before you!

[H_T_L]

3 hours ago, habs1952 said:

You're really going to be pissed off when you hear they're getting covid vaccines before you!

Thought about that today. Just read you can buy an early dose in the UK for $300.00. Chump change to the NHL.

[maas_art]

6 hours ago, H_T_L said:

Still like to know how they get around the restrictions in a place like T.O. where they are in a grey zone and virtual lockdown? How does that business get priority over others? 

I suppose because its essentially a closed, private business? Since they arent opening up to fans I suppose it would be like a private warehouse or something? I dont know how (or if) that applies to the restrictions there - ours are still pretty lax in comparison out here. 

 

5 hours ago, habs1952 said:

You're really going to be pissed off when you hear they're getting covid vaccines before you!

 

2 hours ago, H_T_L said:

Thought about that today. Just read you can buy an early dose in the UK for $300.00. Chump change to the NHL.

The question still remains: how long will these vaccines last? No one seems to know. They might have to take a vaccine every month!

[BigTed3]

With a 7-team division and 56 games to play, it ends up being roughly 9 games against each team. In Montreal's case, I'm guessing that's 9 against Cal, Van, Edm, and Wpg and 10 against each of Tor and Ott. I wouldn't be surprised if they're played like MLB series, where two teams play say 2 or 3 games against each other in the same city consecutively. It will help the need for quarantine between games. So Montreal could host the Leafs for 3 games, then host Cal for 3 games, then host Edm for 2 games and then hit the road and play the Canucks in Vancouver 3 times, then the Flames in Calgary twice, then the Jets in Winnipeg 3 times and so on. Every week you get a new opponent for the week. Obviously leaves room for schedule disparity as to whether you get a team when they're going through injuries or COVID or a down stretch, but I think at this point, the NHL is just looking for any way to get competitive games going with as little chance of interruption as possible, then keeping their fingers crossed that vaccines bring the numbers down enough by playoff time to be able to travel more freely.