Do you favour 24 or 28 game schedule if there were one coming this year!?

[hockeyfan125]

This short season could be a great preparation for many teams testing their line-ups for next year. I think 24 games or 28, either would be just amazing...

28 Games is long enough to determine good teams from bad ones. Bad teams might go on a 10 game hot streak at the best....but over 28 games they show their colors. Its obviously not as good as 82 games, but if we get 28 games of NHL hockey, I won't be complaining.

 

[MePutPuckInNet]

Personally, I HATE the idea of them handing the Stanley Cup to any team who'd only be playing so few games.

Part of the reason why Lord Stanley's Cup is so precious is all the fight and weariness and toiling it takes to get that far. With that short of a season - I dunno....I just think it would be sacriligeous to be hoisting The Cup ---- it'd feel like a travesty of justice, a sham of a season and a mockery of all the history before. There wouldn't be a whole lot of satisfaction on my part if say - the Edmonton Oilers were to win. It would be a travashamockery, in my opinion.

 

[SuperUnknown]

Isn't there a risk that with such a short season some teams tank it for good draft picks? (like Crosby?).

 

[Taxman]

A 28 and 24 game schedule is just too short. Too much luck is involved with so few games played. For a season playoff to get any credit, a minimum of 36 games needs to be played. I see no reason why they can't fit in 36 games even if they start as late as the middle of February. It is very easy to do.

 

[Nimrods Son]

no, anything lower than 36 games is a joke, and only if the regular season is cut back to 72 in the future.

 

[Jazz]

Isn't there a risk that with such a short season some teams tank it for good draft picks? (like Crosby?).

Agreed - that would be a downfall - at least they have the lottery to partially circumvent that problem....

 

[Bicycle Repairman]

Anyone else forecast a lot of injuries in such a short season? Not only is the season short, the game schedule is going to be greatly compressed.

Sure, you've got fresh troops, but are they all game-ready? Overall team conditioning will play a huge factor.

In such a scenario, you might find injury luck itself play a huge role in who rises to the top.

 

[Vast Ant Dioi]

In such a scenario, you might find injury luck itself play a huge role in who rises to the top.

Sorta like it did with who won the Cup? Tampa had about as much luck with injuries as a team could possibly hope for and the argument can certainly be made that it's what got them over the hump against Calgary. By the same token, had Lang not broken his wrist against Calgary, would he have potted a goal in game 5 or 6 and change the outcome of that series?

82 games, 52 games, 24 games -- luck with injuries is going to play a part regardless. A team in an 82 game season might have incredible luck with injuries all season long but have a couple of key guys hurt at the end or at the start of the playoffs. It doesn't matter; timing of injuries isn't going to change anything. What's the difference between someone tearing their ACL on February 20th in a 28 game season and February 20th in an 82 game season? What's the difference between Sturm breaking his leg in the home stretch of a long season or a short one? He's still gone for the playoffs. Just because all injuries would essentially be happening close to the playoffs doesn't mean those same injuries couldn't have happened if 40 games had already been played this year.

 

[Bicycle Repairman]

Sorta like it did with who won the Cup? Tampa had about as much luck with injuries as a team could possibly hope for and the argument can certainly be made that it's what got them over the hump against Calgary.

82 games, 52 games, 24 games -- luck with injuries is going to play a part regardless. A team in an 82 game season might have incredible luck with injuries all season long but have a couple of key guys hurt at the end or at the start of the playoffs. It doesn't matter; timing of injuries isn't going to change anything. What's the difference between someone tearing their ACL on February 20th in a 28 game season and February 20th in an 82 game season?

Because of the tightened schedule. Days off go a long way towards recuperation of those smaller, nagging injuries before they become "out of the line-up" maladies.