NHL Exploring Ideas For a Return to Play

Building upon last week’s hockey news that the NHL made public some of the ideas they are exploring for a return to play, the Deputy Commissioner, Bill Daly, elaborated on what that might look like. He suggested two specific paths the NHL could take; either to have all teams circulate through some hub cities, or all teams hosting a portion of their season at their home arena. This second option just seems unfeasible at this time given over 20% of the league is based in Canada and the high percentage of players which are not based in the States year round. Daly’s specific comment:

“We have to build in flexibility for the hiccups that we expect will come along and have to expect will come along with potential COVID positives and contact tracing requirements. Some of the difficulties that baseball went through and some of the difficulties that the NFL is currently dealing with, how do we address those situations in the context of our own schedule? Those are all the things we’re working on and those are all the things that keep us all up at night as we try to figure this out.”

Both leagues have managed to have respectable seasons through the fall, however the scheduling considerations are not the same. MLB severely shortened their season, while the NFL has always had a light schedule in comparison to professional hockey. Daly might be communicating a January 1 start date, however it is almost undoubtedly going to be without fans. Keep this in mind when it’s time to make NHL picks again.

Personally I am a proponent of extended hub rotation that could allow the Canadian teams to call one of the American rinks ‘home’. Commit to that for say, half a 60 or 70 game season and perhaps you can look at something more extensive come playoffs when the scheduling and team travel is more manageable and possibly less restrictive.

“Look, we know there is some urgency here, there is some urgency for making decisions, and while we want to drop the puck on Jan. 1 we also recognize that we’re not going to rush into a bad decision just to make it. Whether that Jan. 1 can be a little later, we certainly have flexibility to move it later. We are in regular communication with the clubs. I think the players and the clubs have a fairly good understanding of what a Jan. 1 opening would require.”

This quote to me speaks volumes about the urgency for the NHL. I think based on what they feel was a success this past summer, they would be willing to push it back into what could end up being another late lifting of the Cup. Additionally there has been some light dialogue about teams having the option for pre-season training camp, which speaks about to the casualness of the current mindset.

So we will continue to monitor communication from the NHL and NHLPA regarding their talks, but it seems to be a very ‘let’s wait and see’ approach. With everything that has been going on this year, I think that is a reasonable perspective to hold for the time being when so many lives are likely to be affected for better or worse.

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