NHL IF there is a 2021 season

[Fenway]

During the lost season of 16 years ago, Bain offered to buy the entire NHL for $3 Billion

Offer to Owners: $3 Billion for All 30 N.H.L. Teams (Published 2005)

Would the owners of the 30 franchises seriously consider a bid from new investors to buy all the teams at once for more than $3 billion and turn the business into a single-entity partnership?

"Simple answer?" said Jeremy Jacobs, owner of the Boston Bruins. "No, I don't. The Bruins aren't for sale. I talked to a lot of my contemporaries. They didn't take it terribly seriously. This had been floated a few months ago, and it didn't get any traction then."

One simple reason the owners have to play - the US contract expires after the 2021 season and they need to stay visible while trying to get the highest bid.

They won't do a closed bubble again - Toronto wasn't bad but Edmonton felt like jail. ( it was a much smaller footprint )

One thing I didn't even think about - many of the hotels the NHL uses for road teams have been closed for months.

The bottom line is we should have some kind of season, if we don't it will only be because things in the real world have made it impossible to do so.

 

[RussellmaniaKW]

maybe i'm just tired of all this bullshit, but i kinda feel like they should just shut it down & wait for a vaccine. finishing the playoffs in a bubble was one thing. trying to play a regular season in a bubble will really suck.

 

[PlayMakers]

I don't care how they set it up or what has to happen. Just play the games.

 

[bb74]

If things continue on the same path thru December there will be no professional sports in 1H 21 (IMO.) This thing is going to pop and sports are an afterthought for millions trying to make wage to pay bills and food / or possibly an "opiate for the people" trying to make believe some things are eternal despite reality staring us down.

 

[mikelvl]

Which one is the Smythe Division?

 

[Aussie Bruin]

Those American divisions look almost geographically sensible as well- probably as close as you can get given how the teams are distributed.

The NHL seems to have been imbibed with a good dose of common sense in recent times. The suggested divisions are practical and should offer some good matchups. My understanding is that the current working idea is to have the teams from each group/division travel to a particular 'hub' city, play a bunch of games there for 2-3 weeks, then return home for a bit, rinse and repeat. I assume the divisions would rotate their periods at home so that there is always hockey being played somewhere. The players would not be in strict quarantine at any point, rather they would have protocols they are required to follow to limit their chances of infection.

Broadly speaking I can get on board with this. It limits travel while still permitting plenty of hockey to be played, and it gives the players the opportunity to still live semi-normal lives and to regularly spend time with their families. Of course there will be risks, but that is true for almost all workers, and at least they will be reduced. Baseball has shown that something along these lines can be done successfully - yes the MLB had a couple of bad outbreaks but they got through and put together something at least close to a meaningful competition. The NHL can learn from that and improve upon it.

 

[Centrum Hockey]

Would the bruins ever consider playing at Warrior or Matthews Arena for 2021 a smaller rink could allow for some fans assuming there are to many issues with td garden.

 

[BruinDust]

Would the bruins ever consider playing at Warrior or Matthews Arena for 2021 a smaller rink could allow for some fans assuming there are to many issues with td garden.

Wouldn't a smaller rink be more of a problem? At least in a full-sized arena there is plenty of seats to space fans out. Also more entrances to the building, more washrooms, etc. Going to a small rink seems like the opposite of what you would do.

 

[Gee Wally]

Would the bruins ever consider playing at Warrior or Matthews Arena for 2021 a smaller rink could allow for some fans assuming there are to many issues with td garden.

Wouldnt be up to the Bruins. Currently this is governed by the State and City. At least as a first, HUGE, step.