Division-centric sites for season resumption - reported to be Edmonton and Toronto

[Legion34]

1.) playing half in Canada and half in the states? makes no sense if border becomes an issue.

What is the benefit of having games in your city? Why do teams care?

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

1.) playing half in Canada and half in the states? makes no sense if border becomes an issue.

What is the benefit of having games in your city? Why do teams care?

God help you if you are so oblivious that you can't see the benefits of a team playing games in the arena they are most familiar with, having everyone in the organization sleeping in their own beds every single night with their own families over playing away from home every game and not getting good sleep or recuperation in a hotel for the medium-term.

 

[Legion34]

God help you if you are so oblivious that you can't see the benefits of a team playing games in the arena they are most familiar with, having everyone in the organization sleeping in their own beds every single night with their own families over playing away from home every game and not getting good sleep or recuperation in a hotel for the medium-term.

????? I’m pretty sure all teams will be in quarantine?????


You think they are going to let them go home? What if a wife is a nurse or a doctor?


You really think that they will let some players break quarantine and some not?

 

[shoop]

God help you if you are so oblivious that you can't see the benefits of a team playing games in the arena they are most familiar with, having everyone in the organization sleeping in their own beds every single night with their own families over playing away from home every game and not getting good sleep or recuperation in a hotel for the medium-term.

Games at neutral sites wouldn't allow for the players from the "home team" to go back and stay in their own bed every night. Those teams would be quarantined like everyone else. The most important reason for this is public health. Added bonus is it puts everyone on a level playing field.

 

[LeftWingLocked]

God help you if you are so oblivious that you can't see the benefits of a team playing games in the arena they are most familiar with, having everyone in the organization sleeping in their own beds every single night with their own families over playing away from home every game and not getting good sleep or recuperation in a hotel for the medium-term.

You do realize if this thing ever happens (Which I personally doubt), everyone will be quarantined at a hotel including the hotel staff. People will be taking daily corona tests on the Abbot testing machines. Do you not understand how this virus works? What you just said is reckless and irresponsible.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

????? I’m pretty sure all teams will be in quarantine?????


You think they are going to let them go home? What if a wife is a nurse or a doctor?


You really think that they will let some players break quarantine and some not?

If a team is hosting, they will likely not be quarantined. Bettman has said the only way the season will continue is if people can be reliably tested. Besides, most players are quarantined at their homes right now, with their families. A direct quarantine certainly doesn't mean the players leave their families, where they've been since the season has been paused.

Games at neutral sites wouldn't allow for the players from the "home team" to go back and stay in their own bed every night. Those teams would be quarantined like everyone else. The most important reason for this is public health. Added bonus is it puts everyone on a level playing field

Look at the title of this thread. We're not talking about neutral site games. Bettman said they are off the table and the league is looking to have each division play at an NHL arena, since even minor league and high end college arenas they looked at didn't have NHL-standard amenities.

You do realize if this thing ever happens (Which I personally doubt), everyone will be quarantined at a hotel including the hotel staff. People will be taking daily corona tests on the Abbot testing machines. Do you not understand how this virus works? What you just said is reckless and irresponsible.

Reckless and irresponsible? Players are already quarantined at home with their families. That's what they've been doing since the season was put on pause. They're not sitting alone in a hotel room. Have you looked at any NHL social media over the last month? Carey Price fishing at home with his family. Zdeno Chara wearing Bruins masks at home with his family. The three Hughes brothers playing street hockey at their home together. Patrick Marleau skating through his house past his wife and kids. Tarasenko playing goalie with his family at his home. Family workout videos posted by Gustafsson, O'Reilly, and no less than dozens of other players. Do you not understand what NHL players have been doing? What you just said is wildly oblivious. Get real and turn your brain on.

 

[LadyStanley]

"Neutral" sites as in, you will be playing at a NHL arena, but not necessarily your home one. (Without home/any fans, may not have the same flavor for games.)

From reading Brook's article in NY Post, it's sounding like they plan on sequestering ALL teams, including the home team, players and staff (plus broadcasters, media folks) for the duration. (Or at least that's what's being discussed. Still a long ways from dropping the puck.)

Camp, exhibition, resumption of season, playoffs = max 4 months.

 

[MNNumbers]

This will be interesting. I understand the desire to finish the season, and especially the desire to have a playoffs. However, sequestration is a difficult matter, because:
There is no way to simply give a certain team a set of hotel rooms to finish the regular season unless you can play all games in ONE location. That's because there are inter-conference games left on the schedule, and I do not think it's possible to create 2 'sets' of teams with no crossover. So, even at this....there will be travel.

Now, it's possible that you could do:
Four sites for games (one for each division)
If your team is playing out of site that day: Fly in the AM to the correct site, transport direct to facility, spend the day at the facility, play game, transport to airport, fly 'home'.
Alternatively, one set of hotel rooms in each city could be reserved for traveling teams.....

But the planning logistics are going to be difficult.

I might just take a look at how many games each team has left out of its division - just for kicks. By a quick count, approximately 1/2 the games left on the schedule would fit into this category - either interconference or interdivisional.

 

[LadyStanley]

@MNNumbers at this point I think you throw the remaining RS "schedule" out the window.

What games are played may be more of a round robin deal with those teams at the site.

What I think is wanted is opportunity for teams to "get back" to RS form, allow the "bubble" teams to sort themselves out to qualify for playoffs, and prepare for playoffs. And fill out season stats with goals/assists, saves, etc., through play. (And entertain fans.)

 

[shoop]

Look at the title of this thread. We're not talking about neutral site games. Bettman said they are off the table and the league is looking to have each division play at an NHL arena, since even minor league and high end college arenas they looked at didn't have NHL-standard amenities.

That's in complete agreement with what I said.

All of the four regional sites will be in a city with a team in the playoffs. There won't be a home ice advantage for those teams by allowing the players to sleep in their own beds.

 

[Jetsfan79]

My idea. 4 cities , each representing a division as already discussed. Scrap the previous regular schedule. All remaining regular season games are divisional with all teams playing one game against their other division opponents. So 6-7 games depending on the division. After these games, top 5 teams via points percentage in each division make the playoffs with seed 4 and 5 playing a best of 3 playin. So its divisional series, then conferance, then championship like it was in the 80s. No wildcard.

Also all series after the 4 vs 5 division playin are best of 5 utilizing a 2-3 format for "home" and "away" for last change purposes. Should be able to finish the season by late August instead of Sept and next season could start on time on Oct.

 

[robertocarlos]

Why didn't they have more or even all divisional games the last ten games of the year? Yes I have 20/20 visions.

 

[Avsavsavsavsavs]

My idea. 4 cities , each representing a division as already discussed. Scrap the previous regular schedule. All remaining regular season games are divisional with all teams playing one game against their other division opponents. So 6-7 games depending on the division. After these games, top 5 teams via points percentage in each division make the playoffs with seed 4 and 5 playing a best of 3 playin. So its divisional series, then conferance, then championship like it was in the 80s. No wildcard.

Also all series after the 4 vs 5 division playin are best of 5 utilizing a 2-3 format for "home" and "away" for last change purposes. Should be able to finish the season by late August instead of Sept and next season could start on time on Oct.

they discussed this and said it was not mathematically possible to do that exact scenario and have each team equal the same amount of games before reaching 82.

 

[BattleBorn]

This will be interesting. I understand the desire to finish the season, and especially the desire to have a playoffs. However, sequestration is a difficult matter, because:
There is no way to simply give a certain team a set of hotel rooms to finish the regular season unless you can play all games in ONE location. That's because there are inter-conference games left on the schedule, and I do not think it's possible to create 2 'sets' of teams with no crossover. So, even at this....there will be travel.

Now, it's possible that you could do:
Four sites for games (one for each division)
If your team is playing out of site that day: Fly in the AM to the correct site, transport direct to facility, spend the day at the facility, play game, transport to airport, fly 'home'.
Alternatively, one set of hotel rooms in each city could be reserved for traveling teams.....

But the planning logistics are going to be difficult.

I might just take a look at how many games each team has left out of its division - just for kicks. By a quick count, approximately 1/2 the games left on the schedule would fit into this category - either interconference or interdivisional.

I probably wouldn’t suggest planning anything that requires an airline to be operating to do.

It’s not like all these teams are flying legacy carriers and a lot of these charter companies aren’t flying period, especially the ones that depend on sports travel contracts for a decent amount of their revenue.

 

[LadyStanley]

(Paywall article. Looks at state of Kings prospects.)

Almost sounds like team may need full AHL squad as extras due to potential injuries.

Most players seem to be on the ice about a month before fall camp starts. So camp is more of a tune up opportunity, and to work on endurance.

But a summer pre-camp, ramp up training camp, followed by round robin RS wrap up and then play offs means the guys would be pushing physically a lot more than normal. Very concerning for injuries.

 

[LadyStanley]

Paywall

Yeah. I can't see a lot of support for total sequestration for that long.

 

[KevFu]

they discussed this and said it was not mathematically possible to do that exact scenario and have each team equal the same amount of games before reaching 82.

I find that slightly odd that it wouldn't be possible... But I'd trust they worked it out a lil bit before saying it.

Could they hit an equal number with LESS than 82?

The two reasons to finish the regular season are:
1. After such a long break, teams need a few games before the playoffs. Jumping into the playoffs after a mini-camp would be a terrible situation for a higher seed to be in.
2. Teams haven't played the same number of games, so picking your playoff teams based on where we paused isn't fair.

So, if they COULD get everyone to the same number of games by playing just division games in a way that makes sense, whether than be 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81 games each; wouldn't that make sense? As long as everyone gets a minimum of 3 regular season games before the playoffs, and everyone plays the same number, you've answered your fairness issue.

 

[MNNumbers]

I find that slightly odd that it wouldn't be possible... But I'd trust they worked it out a lil bit before saying it.

Could they hit an equal number with LESS than 82?

The two reasons to finish the regular season are:
1. After such a long break, teams need a few games before the playoffs. Jumping into the playoffs after a mini-camp would be a terrible situation for a higher seed to be in.
2. Teams haven't played the same number of games, so picking your playoff teams based on where we paused isn't fair.

So, if they COULD get everyone to the same number of games by playing just division games in a way that makes sense, whether than be 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81 games each; wouldn't that make sense? As long as everyone gets a minimum of 3 regular season games before the playoffs, and everyone plays the same number, you've answered your fairness issue.

Quick bit of math...
At present, the Atlantic has 5 teams with an odd number of games played. It should be quite obvious that that number will remain an odd number (1,3,5,7) no matter how the games within the division are scheduled.
The Metro has 2 at 68, 4 at 69, and 2 at 70. It's also clear to see how they can even that out.
The Pacific has 1 at 69, 4 at 70 and 3 at 71. That also works out.
Central has 3 at 69, 2 at 70, 2 at 71. This is more complicated because it's an odd number of teams. However, it works out that all teams can be leveled at any ODD number of games.

Bottom line. ONE game....ONE game between a Central team and an Atlantic team will allow the league to balance the number of games for all teams at any EVEN number between 72 and 82. But no balancing of schedules can be accomplished without that one game, because the Atlantic needs one extra game to attain parity.

 

[KevFu]

Bottom line. ONE game....ONE game between a Central team and an Atlantic team will allow the league to balance the number of games for all teams at any EVEN number between 72 and 82. But no balancing of schedules can be accomplished without that one game, because the Atlantic needs one extra game to attain parity.

Great job with that breakdown!

So.... schedule Detroit vs Chicago as the odd game. Detroit is eliminated. Chicago is in last in the Central; if Chicago is eliminated before the last day... just cancel the game. Problem solved.

 

[KevFu]

Honestly, the biggest problem with the 4-division plan is that it REALLY screws the Metro.

WC1 and WC2 are currently:
81 CAR
81 CBJ
---
80 NYI
79 NYR
78 FLA

Under the division plan, FLA becomes Atlantic playoff team Number 4; jumping four teams in the standings because they can't travel for the playoffs.

And the there's four Metro teams fighting for ONE SPOT instead of two.

If they're going to remove a potential playoff spot from the Metro, they should swap CBJ and BUF, so it's 3 teams for 2 spots in the Atlantic and 3 teams for 1 spot in the Metro

 

[Ernie]

Just have a divisional round robin then go on points percentage. Seems like the most fair way for everyone, and the burden is pretty low for non-playoff teams who don't have skin in the game. All they have to do is show up for 2 weeks then go home to their families.

 

[pbgoalie]

If a team is hosting, they will likely not be quarantined. Bettman has said the only way the season will continue is if people can be reliably tested. Besides, most players are quarantined at their homes right now, with their families. A direct quarantine certainly doesn't mean the players leave their families, where they've been since the season has been paused.



Look at the title of this thread. We're not talking about neutral site games. Bettman said they are off the table and the league is looking to have each division play at an NHL arena, since even minor league and high end college arenas they looked at didn't have NHL-standard amenities.



Reckless and irresponsible? Players are already quarantined at home with their families. That's what they've been doing since the season was put on pause. They're not sitting alone in a hotel room. Have you looked at any NHL social media over the last month? Carey Price fishing at home with his family. Zdeno Chara wearing Bruins masks at home with his family. The three Hughes brothers playing street hockey at their home together. Patrick Marleau skating through his house past his wife and kids. Tarasenko playing goalie with his family at his home. Family workout videos posted by Gustafsson, O'Reilly, and no less than dozens of other players. Do you not understand what NHL players have been doing? What you just said is wildly oblivious. Get real and turn your brain on.

Families get groceries/takeout/essentials
I understand they are currently living at home, but part of the change is those players would then be sharing locker rooms/facilities and then potentially bringing any contacts home with them?
And families can spread among themselves very easily...

 

[Ernie]

Families get groceries/takeout/essentials
I understand they are currently living at home, but part of the change is those players would then be sharing locker rooms/facilities and then potentially bringing any contacts home with them?
And families can spread among themselves very easily...

Not just that, it would be a competitive advantage to be on the comfort of their home while their opponents have to spend months in a hotel. Home teams win about 55% of games in the NHL. The local team would have home ice for ALL the games, including regular season and playoffs.

 

[LadyStanley]

And nothing is determined as to how things could happen

 

[LadyStanley]

Potential date. Still looks of questions.