Getting a season together in 2 weeks will be very very hard

[CarlRacki]

It will be hard, but it is far from impossible. Teams have had essentially nothing to do for the past five months but make contingency plans to get things rolling at a moments notice. Any team that can't get its act together in a couple of weeks has no one to blame but itself.

 

[syc]

Guys its not just the players. We all know they can come back. The teams are going to have to bring back all the employees, need to do maintence on the buildings, tickets need to be printed and mailed to season ticket holders etc... It can't be done in 2 weeks.

I agree, the teams that have basketball in the same building should be able to get up and running pretty easy but I just can't see all the teams getting it all together. We've seen how bad some of the existing NHL teams are managed and I doubt a new cba will fix that.

 

[wazee]

I agree, the teams that have basketball in the same building should be able to get up and running pretty easy but I just can't see all the teams getting it all together. We've seen how bad some of the existing NHL teams are managed and I doubt a new cba will fix that.

So how many buildings are there that do not hold other events. The Pepsi Center has around 250 events a year. Nuggets and Avs games account for less than 100 of them. The rest are concerts, ice capades, the circus, etc. Have any NHL building remained closed the entire time of the lockout? If not, I do not see what would keep them from opening in two weeks. Worst case...if a few teams feel they cannot get their building ready on time (something they should have already let the league know), the schedule can be arranged so those teams start out on the road.

Will the NHL management and staff have to work their tails off to get the season underway in two weeks? Yes. Is it asking them to do the impossible or even the super-human? No.

 

[Taxman]

I fully believe they can get a 28 game schedule starting as late as March 15th. The season might have to be extended a week or two but that is what happened in 1994.

 

[Boltsfan2029]

It will be different for each team. Our team has had no staff layoffs, so there's no problem getting employees back. We already have ice down in the building for another event (click here), so that could be less of a problem (depends on if they have to remove it entirely to get in the lines, logo, etc., as it's a blank sheet now). We only have one player unsigned. All of our players in Europe have out clauses and are ready to leave those teams in the proverbial lurch at a moment's notice. [We have several players on AkBars in Russia -- I think that team has 12 NHLers, 11 of whom will be headed back if we have a season, Kovalchuk being the only exception. It's my understanding they're past their signing deadline over there, so they'd have to fill those 11 roster spots with "minor leaguers" (not sure of the proper term used there). Talk about being in a bad spot...]

As for tickets, smart organizations may well already have season tickets printed up for the various schedules that were put together in anticipation of the various shortened season scenarios.

I'm still torn on the issue of playing this year. I desperately miss the games, but being a Lightning fan it would be nice to have a full season to enjoy as reigning Stanley Cup champions...

 

[cbjfan]

Guys its not just the players. We all know they can come back. The teams are going to have to bring back all the employees, need to do maintence on the buildings, tickets need to be printed and mailed to season ticket holders etc... It can't be done in 2 weeks.

I don't know how other teams are doing it, but the Blue Jackets sent Season Ticket holders "blank" tickets for the first nine games of a shortened season. So, we are ready to go.

Any other teams doing something similar?

 

[Donnie D]

We only have one player unsigned.

But that's one big (or should I say small) player left to be signed.

 

[Boltsfan2029]

But that's one big (or should I say small) player left to be signed.

True. But our GM has a knack for getting these deals done.

Even if he didn't right away, we're only shy one player on the roster for contract reasons. A 28-game season is such a sham that it won't really matter in the long run, anyway, especially with Richards out injured. Not a good scenario for defending the Stanley Cup, but we're going to be stuck with it, I guess.