Rumor: 2020 Playoff Idea

[Wafflewhipper]

I hope I am wrong but my dad lives half years in Naples in a gated complex with like another 300 or so Canadians. Pretty much all had same insurer with the association he says. They lobbied as a group to seek an extension this year for COVID19 and they were denied. They all came back last week before border closed via planes and some drove. As he explained it to me there are a lot of p*ssed off old folks who thought it was safer to stay put rather then get exposed in planes where things spread much easier. I am not sure what is best for public policy on this issue but in my thinking it would take a strain OFF our health care system if these folks would have stayed in Florida. Especially since it sounds like thats what most of these folks wanted to do.

I was fairly aware this virus was nasty 1 month ago. Leaders dropped the ball because the WHO dropped it again. Maybe the who are just puppets and are not taken seriously as soon as economic hardships come in to play. Lots of lessons can be learned from this. Thanks for sharing what your dad expierenced. I think every day i hear a wow story from someone.I hope he stays healthy.

 

[Mess]

I wouldn’t watch and likelyhood I wouldn’t ever watch again would be strong if they did that. I would be thinking who the hell came up with that idea . I really would watch and i would never recognize the winner, not ever with a asterisk

All it would do is eliminate the 1st round, of all the fringe and wild card teams. It be like joining the playoffs already in progress or as if the 2nd round is starting.

Do you stop watching the playoffs after the 1st round once the Leafs are eliminated?

The Stanley Cup would be decided by the top 8 regular season teams by eliminating the 1st round due to timing issues.

PS. The playoffs would have an asterisk anyways if the last 12-15 regular season games are wiped out, and playoff participants are done based on points% for 69-70 games etc. If that season was played out you might and likely would have different playoff teams then this moment in time.

 

[Anthrax442]

March madness style 24 top teams. Round robin and 1 game eliminations. There can be only one!

 

[Wafflewhipper]

All it would do is eliminate the 1st round, of all the fringe and wild card teams. It be like joining the playoffs already in progress or as if the 2nd round is starting.

Do you stop watching the playoffs after the 1st round once the Leafs are eliminated?

The Stanley Cup would be decided by the top 8 regular season teams by eliminating the 1st round due to timing issues.

PS. The playoffs would have an asterisk anyways if the last 12-15 regular season games are wiped out, and playoff participants are done based on points% for 69-70 games etc. If that season was played out you might and likely would have different playoff teams then this moment in time.

I’m not advocate of cancelling the rest of the regular season. Play it out and shorten the first two rounds to 3of 5 is my preference. I can easily watch games on the deck this summer under the extreme circumstances. Doesn’t fizz me if they go long long

 

[TheTotalPackage]

Florida still had beaches open as late as yesterday in some parts with people packed in and partying like crazy.

It's going to be a disaster there the next few months. We better lock out the snowbirds.

Forget even that. Just here in there were hundreds of people out and about with no care in the world because the weather was nicer. Going to get even worse/harder when the weather progressively gets warmer. Will be tough for people to follow rules and stay in, even though it's for everyone's own good and doing so will allow us to get back to normal sooner.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Forget even that. Just here in there were hundreds of people out and about with no care in the world because the weather was nicer. Going to get even worse/harder when the weather progressively gets warmer. Will be tough for people to follow rules and stay in, even though it's for everyone's own good and doing so will allow us to get back to normal sooner.

Completely agree. After a couple weeks more of this more people getting stir crazy. This is harder than it looks. Much more difficult for people who like to get out and do things. We need a vaccine and a cure fast.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Forget even that. Just here in there were hundreds of people out and about with no care in the world because the weather was nicer. Going to get even worse/harder when the weather progressively gets warmer. Will be tough for people to follow rules and stay in, even though it's for everyone's own good and doing so will allow us to get back to normal sooner.

They are mobilizing troops with live ammo as we speak. With flame throwers too. Seeing how. They like the heat

 

[Mess]

I’m not advocate of cancelling the rest of the regular season. Play it out and shorten the first two rounds to 3of 5 is my preference. I can easily watch games on the deck this summer under the extreme circumstances. Doesn’t fizz me if they go long long

Not sure how I see you fitting all that in personally in a condensed schedule, where I personally (best case scenario) don't even see a full playoffs under the remote chance NHL returns for this season.

Players will be off skates for 2 months even best case if doors open again mid May (a very optimistic outcome). So you would need a couple weeks to get up to speed and then a month to play out the last dozen reg games before the playoffs could even begin.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Not sure how I see you fitting all that in personally in a condensed schedule, where I personally (best case scenario) don't even see a full playoffs under the remote chance NHL returns for this season.

Players will be off skates for 2 months even best case if doors open again mid May (a very optimistic outcome). So you would need a couple weeks to get up to speed and then a month to play out the last dozen reg games before the playoffs could even begin.

This is the other plan I hear. This is everyone's summer break. We come back with a small training camp in July and play some kinda playoffs to award da Cup in August/September and then next season begins asap with no break at all in October. Literally award da Cup and following week next season begins.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Not sure how I see you fitting all that in personally in a condensed schedule, where I personally (best case scenario) don't even see a full playoffs under the remote chance NHL returns for this season.

Players will be off skates for 2 months even best case if doors open again mid May (a very optimistic outcome). So you would need a couple weeks to get up to speed and then a month to play out the last dozen reg games before the playoffs could even begin.

I’m way to optimistic for this. Still my preference and things usually go my way. Except since 1967 lol

 

[Mess]

This is the other plan I hear. This is everyone's summer break. We come back with a small training camp in July and play some kinda playoffs to award da Cup in August/September and then next season begins asap with no break at all in October. Literally award da Cup and following week next season begins.

All fine and dandy except for the problem of timing of the NHL season, for practicality reasons.

All NHL contracts run July 1st - June 30th each year.. That means that there are a lot of UFA and RFA players effective July 1st 2020.

You have to have free agency period and the entry draft etc between this year and the next.

In Leafs case players like Barrie, Ceci, Clifford are all free agents on July 1st and Mikheyev and Dermott RFA etc all not under current contract. They wouldn't be eligible to play beyond July 1st without valid contracts for injury and insurance purpose issues. Same problem for all teams league wide.

To me this makes it seem like June 30th is the latest calendar date that games could be played for this season. As next year 2020-21 season officially starts on July 1st 2020.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

All fine and dandy except for the problem of timing of the NHL season, for practicality reasons.

All NHL contracts run July 1st - June 30th each year.. That means that there are a lot of UFA and RFA players effective July 1st 2020.

You have to have free agency period and the entry draft etc between this year and the next.

In Leafs case players like Barrie, Ceci, Clifford are all free agents on July 1st and Mikheyev and Dermott RFA etc all not under current contract. They wouldn't be eligible to play beyond July 1st without valid contracts for injury and insurance purpose issues. Same problem for all teams league wide.

To me this makes it seem like June 30th is the latest calendar date that games could be played for this season. As next year 2020-21 season officially starts on July 1st 2020.

It will all depend on controlling da virus really. But right now we are done for sure until end of April in lockdown. So even if everything went rosy red with a 2 week player quarantine after travel from lockdown and then 2 week camp for guys to get back in skating shape best case starting beginning of June. That is absolute best case scenario right now. then time to play a few season games, maybe rest of schedule even in June. But likely and in another month of lockdown from US fed govt to close to end of May and then we go to July 1st start up if lucky.
All draft, RFA UFA all dat stuff will get postponed until schedule is figured out. and likely everything will be condensed into a very short period of time after Cup is awarded.

 

[Mess]

It will all depend on controlling da virus really. But right now we are done for sure until end of April in lockdown. So even if everything went rosy red with a 2 week player quarantine after travel from lockdown and then 2 week camp for guys to get back in skating shape best case starting beginning of June. That is absolute best case scenario right now. then time to play a few season games, maybe rest of schedule even in June. But likely and in another month of lockdown from US fed govt to close to end of May and then we go to July 1st start up if lucky.
All draft, RFA UFA all dat stuff will get postponed until schedule is figured out. and likely everything will be condensed into a very short period of time after Cup is awarded.

Listening to the CDC yesterday they believe NYC will peak in the next 15-20 days and then a place like California a week or 2 after that and Florida peaking late May.

If that is the case Florida will be knee deep in trouble in June still as the virus sweeps in waves across USA in waves at different.

My personal opinion is the chance of salvaging this season is pretty close to Zero.. In fact we might even be fortunate if the start of next year is not disrupted at this point with all the offseason stuff that needs to happen that might see a entry draft conducted differently via video conference/skype with all scouts working from home during the summer with no big crowds or gatherings as people are still on limited lockdown and asked to social distance.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Listening to the CDC yesterday they believe NYC will peak in the next 15-20 days and then a place like California a week or 2 after that and Florida peaking late May.

If that is the case Florida will be knee deep in trouble in June still as the virus sweeps in waves across USA in waves at different.

My personal opinion is the chance of salvaging this season is pretty close to Zero.. In fact we might even be fortunate if the start of next year is not disrupted at this point with all the offseason stuff that needs to happen that might see a entry draft conducted differently via video conference/skype with all scouts working from home during the summer with no big crowds or gatherings as people are still on limited lockdown and asked to social distance.

Yes this is very likely. But if there is a chance in July, then games (like NBA) would be played without crowds to fulfill each leagues TV contract. It is a HUGE deal for the NBA as TV contract dwarfs gates. I think the NHL will follow suit too. Even the NHL does not want to pay back its TV contracts for non fulfillment. Likely games and players kept in a certain area with low COVID19 counts like northern midwest somewhere where it is cooler and ice rinks easier to manage. Minny comes to mind.

 

[Blowfish]

Skip the first round and just start with the second. Everyone else’s season is over if you aren’t one of the clear cut top 4 in each conference.

Why deal with the logistical nightmare for non playoff teams? Let the best 8 teams play 3 series like they normally would have and be ready for a normal season next year.

Keep the quality of the product high.

 

[ULF_55]

As long as the players practice social distancing on the ice there is a chance they make this happen.

I like the Leafs chances, although Nylander might have an issue always being within 6 feet of the net.