NHL Around the NHL XXI - UPDATE 7/1 - Toronto and Edmonton chosen as hubs

[DominicT]

To be fair, they could've gotten hurt at the end of the regular season too.

I'm okay with a weighted round robin... But if the B's have the 1 seed they should play the lowest seed remaining. That they may not is stupid.

It appears the players want a re-seeding after the play-in round, re-seed then its 1 vs 8, 2 vs 7 and so on. But it also depends on which player rep you are talking to.

Right now, it's the executive board that's voting - the NHLPA brass + the 31 player reps. They could decide to send it back to the NHL to re-tweak it, or approve it. What is not known yet is, if approved, will the NHLPA send it to the full membership to vote on.

 

[BruinsBtn]

It's odd that the players would care given that just as many would benefit from not re-seeding vs re-seeding but credit to them if it's true because it makes sense.

 

[DominicT]

It's odd that the players would care given that just as many would benefit from not re-seeding vs re-seeding but credit to them if it's true because it makes sense.

Players on the top teams want re-seeding for obvious reasons.

If we are concerning ourselves on the voting system we should be asking why the Senators, Wings, Sabres and Devils players would get to cast a vote since it doesn't include them.

 

[bbfan419]

No f***ing way is Pittsburgh getting a shot at Alexis Lafreniere haha. Not on my watch.

Last thing I read regarding the draft was that the lottery would be going back to the old way or potentially reducing the lottery to 5 teams. Wasn't finalized, but that was the talk. I would assume if that's on the table, and you're giving a team like Montreal a shot at the cup, there's no way they can double dip into both.

I hope you are right.

 

[DominicT]

 

[Mathews28]

The regular season IS meaningless. By the time this all gets started the last game will have happened over 4 months ago! Quit trying to pretend that this is some type of legitimate continuation of the 2019-20 season. It isn't. Its a hockey tournament.

I don't know how many times I have to say this......the league DOESN'T CARE about the integrity of the regular season. Nor should they.

This is a revenue grab to generate TV ratings.

I am saying the opposite of your interpretation...pretending this is a legitimate continuation? 100% the opposite. It's illegitimate. Teams playing less games being left out of the "playoffs" because they couldn't outpoint a team that benefited by playing more games? nearly 8/10ths of the teams making the "tournament."
Perhaps it is tantamount to a tournament. If so it’s at least a partially rectifiable situation if they do the following:

Don't call it the Stanley Cup playoffs. Don't issue a cup to the winner. If it's a tournament, call it a tournament.

Unless Bs win.

 

[Mathews28]

I’m not suggesting this as the perfect solution.

I would say however, that I have yet to see a proposal that couldn’t easily be picked apart for being unfair to certain teams, short of just finishing the regular season schedule and entering the playoffs as normal. Which is entirely off the table.

I think you are right, fairly easy to shoot holes in all of the proposals to date.

 

[pgm16]

Oh well, hopefully we get an opportunity to knock out both Toronto & Montreal, then beat Vancouver in the Final...lol.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Fenway said it was 6-4-2-0. (Wait, he said 8-6-4-2. Um, okay, that's literally the same thing.) Either way, when you're talking about a 4-team round robin where each team plays 3 times, you can't give the Bruins more than 6 points without making all three of their games 100% irrelevant. Think about it: teams can only win 3 games for 6 points. So if the Bruins have more than a 6 point edge, they basically have first place locked up.

I actually think this makes sense. It guarantees the Bruins first seed UNLESS they lose all three games. And, to be honest, if they lose all three games, they don't deserve more than second seed. And as for the other three teams, in the East, if you give TBL and PHI 1 point each for their game in hand, the regular season standings are 92-91-90, so the handicap works pretty well from their POV, too.

I almost feel like the play-in games should grant a larger advantage in certain circumstances - well, namely one circumstance in each conference. I think PIT/MTL should be played with PIT getting a 1 game advantage, because MTL had no legit shot at making the playoffs. Even CAR/FLA isn't a total mismatch. Probably same for DAL/CHI.

Who cares if the Bruins lose the three exhibition games. They still earned first when it mattered.

This should be based on points percentage and nothing more. 16 teams total, carry on the usual playoff format.

Now we get to see Washington and Tampa Bay do their best to cripple the Bergeron line, Krug, and Gryz. Now, that will be fun!

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

I'm sure none of the top playoff teams like it which certainly indicates the flaws in the system. Let's cater to the teams needing playoff expansion to get in however.

 

[jgatie]

I couldn't care less about it being "legitimate" or not, you people sound like Patriot haters and their asterisks. It boils down to this: Any day with hockey is better than a day without. Bring on the games!!!

 

[Estlin]

What happens if a player, someone on the coaching staff, a trainer or someone else contracts COVID-19? Is this tournament then shut down?

 

[Spooner st]

Are we really surprised the league wants Toronto and the Habs in. I'm not afraid of the competition...I'm afraid of the league handling the referees.

 

[Gee Wally]

What happens if a player, someone on the coaching staff, a trainer or someone else contracts COVID-19? Is this tournament then shut down?

helluva question for sure.

Imagine if Marchand licks Matthews?
I think dear old HF wouldn’t survive.

 

[member 96824]

What happens if a player, someone on the coaching staff, a trainer or someone else contracts COVID-19? Is this tournament then shut down?

I think it has to be, right?

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

So they won’t be finishing the regular season ?

 

[caz16]

What happens if a player, someone on the coaching staff, a trainer or someone else contracts COVID-19? Is this tournament then shut down?

When you throw in all the help that will be needed, like for the accommodations, food providers...well, good luck with keeping it out.

 

[McGarnagle]

What happens if a player, someone on the coaching staff, a trainer or someone else contracts COVID-19? Is this tournament then shut down?

 

[Alicat]

What happens if a player, someone on the coaching staff, a trainer or someone else contracts COVID-19? Is this tournament then shut down?

Shut it all down and cancel the rest of the season once and for all

 

[sooshii]

The source also confirmed the Carey Price factor is real. The Pittsburgh Penguins feel like they soldiered through extraordinary adversity in a season which injuries could have easily wrecked. For much of the season, the Penguins were the most significantly injured team in the NHL, according to ManGamesLost.com.

 

[caz16]

I have been a Bruins fan since the early 70s and this does not appeal to me whatsoever. I love my hockey but this is a joke.

 

[Jean_Jacket41]

The source also confirmed the Carey Price factor is real. The Pittsburgh Penguins feel like they soldiered through extraordinary adversity in a season which injuries could have easily wrecked. For much of the season, the Penguins were the most significantly injured team in the NHL, according to ManGamesLost.com.

Being afraid of the biggest overrated loser G in history playing behind an awful team? Really Pittsburgh?

 

[sooshii]

Being afraid of the biggest overrated loser G in history playing behind an awful team? Really Pittsburgh?

Maybe not?

 

[Aussie Bruin]

What happens if a player, someone on the coaching staff, a trainer or someone else contracts COVID-19? Is this tournament then shut down?

You isolate that person/s and carry on. Which sounds faintly ridiculous at the moment but my logic is this - unless we get very very lucky with a vaccine, we're going to be living with this virus for a long time. Which leaves us with two alternatives. Either we have no sports for years, or we find a way to run the comps with a protocol in place that's workable for when infections occur.

The NHL is going to have to be very clear in advance on what their policy will be in regards to testing and any positive cases. They'll need to have an idea of how resilient they're willing to be, e.g. if a little cluster of 4 players/staff gets the virus, is that deemed acceptable and the rest of that team can carry on? As opposed to there being a 'tipping point' where if the numbers of an outbreak reach a certain level, that's when it's deemed too compromised and the whole thing is cancelled.

That's what is required, and what the players are going to have to agree to if they want to play. Because if they go in simply hoping that no-one gets infected over a period of multiple weeks, then they're massively just tempting fate.

 

[bbfan419]

Shut it all down and cancel the rest of the season once and for all

I agree, as much as I miss hockey and want to see the Bruins go for the cup, they need to be smart about this, the health of people is more important than sports. Shut it down and then reassess in the fall for the next season.