NHL Season Start Date: January 13, 2021

[I-90 W]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

Both sides worked on the plan through the weekend. Hope is for the union and the owners to vote on the plan before the end of the week.

So, I'm thinking we might see something as soon as Friday.

Thanks for this update. Getting real close now. Not having the schedule yet is driving me crazy. 

[Marvin]

Just wondering -- considering the 2 week isolation protocol, is it not unrealistic to expect trades between Canadian and American teams?

[PerreaultForever]

32 minutes ago, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:

Just wondering -- considering the 2 week isolation protocol, is it not unrealistic to expect trades between Canadian and American teams?

maybe not at the deadline, but otherwise 2 weeks is not a huge deal if you're looking at playoff value, and if you're building for next season 2 weeks doesn't really matter either. In fact it might be desirable. 

[Ducky]

21 hours ago, dudacek said:

Both sides worked on the plan through the weekend. Hope is for the union and the owners to vote on the plan before the end of the week.

So, I'm thinking we might see something as soon as Friday.

Give players 3 days to get to town and that is the 21st. A 14 day quarantine as son as they hit Canada brings us to January 4th. A 10 day training camp and they are ready to go on the 15th.

If Team Canada makes the gold medal game, players could be in camp by the 6th or 7th. Would they have to quarantine in the states if they are coming from the bubble in Deadmonton?

[dudacek]

21 minutes ago, Ducky said:

Give players 3 days to get to town and that is the 21st. A 14 day quarantine as son as they hit Canada brings us to January 4th. A 10 day training camp and they are ready to go on the 15th.

If Team Canada makes the gold medal game, players could be in camp by the 6th or 7th. Would they have to quarantine in the states if they are coming from the bubble in Deadmonton?

Looks like there are already tons of players already in town, or on their way, and not everyone is dealing with 14-day quarantines.

The Junior team potential quarantines apparently vary depending on the jurisdiction, but coming from the bubble they will have been regularly tested.

[DarthEbriate]

17 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

maybe not at the deadline, but otherwise 2 weeks is not a huge deal if you're looking at playoff value, and if you're building for next season 2 weeks doesn't really matter either. In fact it might be desirable. 

Very much so! Think back to us trading for Evander Kane while he was injured, and therefore not a threat to help us win games down the stretch in our quest for McDavid. But he'd be there for McDavid or Eichel the following season. It'll be especially amplified in a shortened season where one "good" stretch by the players could take a team whose front office is actively tanking and propel them down the draft order.

[Ducky]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Looks like there are already tons of players already in town, or on their way, and not everyone is dealing with 14-day quarantines.

The Junior team potential quarantines apparently vary depending on the jurisdiction, but coming from the bubble they will have been regularly tested.

Just saying what the Canadian teams are looking at wrt quarantines and such. 

[tom webster]

John Wawrow reports there may be final deal by Friday.

[PromoTheRobot]

Any word if players are skating on their own? I know some rinks were forced to close.

[bob_sauve28]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Any word if players are skating on their own? I know some rinks were forced to close.

I wonder if it's just left to the players to figure that out. If the players are scattered all over the world what can the team really do? 

[dudacek]

To the best of my knowledge, the team cannot organize activities prior to training camp. Those pre-camp skates have always been informal things organized by the players.

We know Jack has been skating in Florida, and Skinner and Hall together in Toronto. We've heard the Rasmi and Reino have been spotted heading back to Buffalo, as are players from across the league. Whatever happens in terms of players getting together will be subject to whatever the COVID rules are in the Buffalo area.

[jsb]

So the extra week of team practices for the teams that didn't make the playoffs are off the table?? 

[PromoTheRobot]

8 minutes ago, jsb said:

So the extra week of team practices for the teams that didn't make the playoffs are off the table?? 

That seems to be the case. 😠

[dudacek]

10 minutes ago, jsb said:

So the extra week of team practices for the teams that didn't make the playoffs are off the table?? 

Last rumour I heard was starting camps 4 days earlier, but every thing is in flux.

For example, after a week or more of “in our own buildings” Im hearing today they’re leaning to playing the first month or so in hubs.

The reason we are hearing so little is that it continues to shift. I expect it’s close and we will hear something soon.

[Ducky]

The NHL and the players have a LOT to figure out here. Different laws in different states/provinces, some teams (rumor is Sharks and Habs) not able to open in their buildings. Are they going to hubs? It can be easy to make something out of this mess especially since it changes. I'm guessing they start playing around the 18th or so.

[Brawndo]

 

[I-90 W]

^ Yuck 

[Curt]

38 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

I like that they can quickly and easily approve this, but when the actual games might happen seems to be an unsolvable riddle.  

[WildCard]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

 

Sweet. Can't wait till we're watching this.

Good thing we just got those new jerseys

[LTS]

2 hours ago, Curt said:

I like that they can quickly and easily approve this, but when the actual games might happen seems to be an unsolvable riddle.  

One of those two things is a bit easier to get through don't you think?  You are either for it or against it with minimal guidelines on what can be placed and where it can be placed.  The other involves managing logistics for 31 teams, hundreds of players, all mixed within the regulations of cities, states, provinces, and countries not to mention those rules are constantly changing.

Unsolvable?  I don't think so.  Far more parameters that are continually changing to deal with?  Yeah.. more difficult.

[Brawndo]

 

[JohnC]

On 12/16/2020 at 12:52 PM, dudacek said:

Last rumour I heard was starting camps 4 days earlier, but every thing is in flux.

For example, after a week or more of “in our own buildings” Im hearing today they’re leaning to playing the first month or so in hubs.

The reason we are hearing so little is that it continues to shift. I expect it’s close and we will hear something soon.

What's shifting is that the virus contamination is everywhere and getting worse. No location is sufficiently clean. I'm aware that the players don't like the idea of playing in a hub but for the short term it might be the best option. If you look at the college and even the pro ranks few teams have been able to avoid the plague. What do you do if a player/s in the very abbreviated training camp becomes infected. Then what do you do? If there is a quarantine then the roster is sidelined. If a team is sidelined how do you rework an already tight schedule? This is a challenging situation with no easy answers.

[Marvin]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

What's shifting is that the virus contamination is everywhere and getting worse. No location is sufficiently clean. I'm aware that the players don't like the idea of playing in a hub but for the short term it might be the best option. If you look at the college and even the pro ranks few teams have been able to avoid the plague. What do you do if a player/s in the very abbreviated training camp becomes infected. Then what do you do? If there is a quarantine then the roster is sidelined. If a team is sidelined how do you rework an already tight schedule? This is a challenging situation with no easy answers.

I think they will want teams to socially distance.  IMHO, teams should have players socially distance and wear masks on team flights and then have 1 player per room in the hotel to slow the spread of any infection.  Maybe team meals should be where the air is getting pulled upward from the table.  Honestly, this goes hand-in-hand with the 30 player teams with 10 Preston Ridlehubers.

As for scheduling, let us work backwards.

The Olympics begin on Friday 23 July 2021.  So the playoffs have to end by, say, Saturday 17 July.

We assume 8 weeks for a normal set of playoffs.  That backs us up to 23 May.

56 games in the normal density of an 82 game season is 17-18 weeks (a shade over 3 games each week; this would include 1 "off" week.).  That backs up to at most 17 January.  You can have the off-week or off-half-week to be at the end of the season.  I also project a lot of "double headers", where teams play 2 games in 24-48 hours each time.  So you could arrange a lot of "dead spots" in each team's schedule to postpone a set of games when there needs to be.

For reference, if the season were 48 games, then the season could take 14-15 weeks.  This puts the start of the season at 14 February at the latest if there is no "off" week.  That seems chancy.

[Ducky]

The league has targeted mid-January as a potential start date.

However, the Ontario Hospital Association today asked the Ontario government for a strict four-week lockdown in regions with high rates of COVID-19 positivity that would include Toronto, which is in the red-control zone of the province's colour coded framework.

Ottawa is currently in the orange-restrict category, which would be out of the request's scope.

Also, the mayors of Toronto and Mississauga, Ont., both said on Wednesday that they want a strict four-week lockdown to begin over the winter holidays to slow the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the GTA.

[dudacek]

Really looking like the individual restrictions  in the Canadian provinces are the issue. No guarantee they will able gather and travel in the manner the league needs.

The same regulations that made the playoff bubbles a success seem to be blocking non-bubble options