NHL season on pause - Coronavirus (COVID-19) - Part II *Mod Warning OP*

[LadyStanley]

NHL focused on flexibility as Dr. Fauci sets parameters for return of sports

President Trump seems to be pushing for the return of sports, and his top infectious disease analyst has outlined the conditions.


Conditions include isolation of athletes, playing in empty arenas. For the foreseeable future.

 

[LadyStanley]

Obviously.

Lots of questions unanswered. Especially to the biggest sports fan at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

 

[LadyStanley]

Participants of call

 

[LadyStanley]

QED. (Paywall)

Long list of questions to be answered. Some will be OBE based on other answers. Like how do you handle conditional picks based on playoff results if there aren't any?

 

[LadyStanley]

Opponents of Stay-at-Home Orders Organize Protests at State Capitols

Protesters not even patient enough to wait until US Memorial Day.

 

[LadyStanley]

31 Thoughts: How NHL teams are handling draft prep from a distance - Sportsnet.ca

Today's 31 Thoughts. Includes ponderings on draft (lottery, timing), KHL players reconsidering coming to North America, possible salary roll back and long term repayment of escrow, etc.

Ending with

Finally, it’s an overwhelming time. There’s NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman sounding optimistic on Fox Business. There’s Dr. Anthony Fauci talking about games without fans in the summer. There’s Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti saying it’s difficult to see his city holding any large gatherings for sporting events before 2021. It’s overwhelming. There’s conflicting information. And no one’s really going to know anything for weeks, if not months. One step in front of the other, focus on getting today’s tasks done. We’ll get there together.

 

[LadyStanley]

Today's Insider Trading. LeBrun has the $$ of impact of gate/sponsorship if playoffs were played. (He took a poll; 59% - 41% were saying they would like to see playoffs with no fans)

With NCAA/colleges saying they may not have students on campus until 2021, that probably kills the hockey (and football) season. So, how many "seniors" might decide to go pro?

 

[LadyStanley]

Paywall. More on potential return to play. Lots of opinions/facts on each side

 

[LadyStanley]

Coronavirus: Canada, US extend border restrictions for another 30 days

US-Canada border closed to non-essential travel for another 30 days.

(Not exactly clear on when that ends, but at least mid-May, if not end of May.)

 

[LadyStanley]

More probable cancellations of junior age events. Bitter feelings over Swedish players skating, competitive advantage?

 

[LadyStanley]

Progress.

70 days until July 1st.

 

[LadyStanley]

Nice

 

[LadyStanley]

Paywall

Las Vegas one of the dozen cities being considered for season resumption.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Seeing how some players don't want to be forced to play if they are out of the playoffs, can we assume they will forfeit that portion of their salary?

NHL players begin to voice concern over restart - TSN.ca

 

[cbcwpg]

Seeing how some players don't want to be forced to play if they are out of the playoffs, can we assume they will forfeit that portion of their salary?

NHL players begin to voice concern over restart - TSN.ca

Look at it from the player who is on a mathematically eliminated team. You have to go to a central site, you basically have to be quarantined, you have to train for 2-3 weeks, you have to have a few exhibition games, then you have to play out the regular season, when your team has all ready been eliminated.

I'm sure some players might be willing to give up 10-12 games salary to stay home.

 

[Ernie]

CFL news, but relevant to the NHL, as Canadian franchises will also be struggling.

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government is in discussions with the CFL, which is seeking financial support to help with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trudeau said Wednesday that support for the 62-year-old league is an "important issue" for the CFL and its fans.

"We are currently looking at how we can support various organizations. We recognize that this is an important issue for the league and for many Canadians and we are continuing our discussions with them," Trudeau said.

"The CFL has approached us about support. We know it's important to them and important for many Canadians and those discussions are ongoing."

The prime minister's comments come a day after The Canadian Press reported that the CFL is seeking up to $150 million in federal assistance.

League commissioner Randy Ambrosie said Tuesday the proposal involves $30 million now to manage the impact the novel coronavirus outbreak has had on league business, and up to another $120 million in the event of a lost 2020 campaign.
​

Trudeau: Discussions ongoing with CFL as league seeks government assistance | National Newswatch

Could this also translate into support for NHL teams like Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Ottawa?

Will be interesting to see if US NHL teams in smaller markets that play in publicly owned arenas will try to get some government support.

 

[LadyStanley]

31 Thoughts: Best-case scenario for resumption of NHL season - Sportsnet.ca

Friedman's 31 Thoughts.

AHL President Dave Andrews is retiring June 30, regardless of the season status. If things cannot return to normal for a 2020-21 AHL season, (including fans in the stands) there may be a lost season. NHL teams may be scrambling to have a place for prospects to develop and be ready for injury call ups.

The AHL has not officially cancelled the rest of this year, but that’s a formality. One theory as to why that hasn’t happened is some AHL players could end up playing for NHL teams, and, as a result, there’s no point in giving them the mindset their year is over. Over the last week, however, NHL GMs were warned about concerns that the AHL could potentially go without playing next season if fans were not allowed into buildings. That is an absolute worst-case scenario, but it exists.
...
Andrews hopes to present those different scenarios in a couple of weeks. Nineteen of the AHL’s 31 teams are owned by their NHL parents (three have local groups that operate those teams). The other 12 are locally owned. That group includes Hershey (Washington’s affiliate) and Syracuse (Tampa Bay).

Andrews would not go into it, but it is believed those locally owned organizations are most concerned about playing without fans. It may not make sense for them to operate unless their NHL partners are willing to increase financial support.

That would be an additional financial burden on NHL organizations (and deep pocketed owners) if the NHL "requires" there to be an AHL season. Financial pain could go on a while. Might some teams play in fan-empty arenas, while others do have fans in the stands? The idea of "combining" teams from local ownership was also floated, but nothing is decided. Expect the ECHL and CHL to be watching how this plays out.


Other topics: John McDonough's firing. Bieber vs. Binnington. NHL memo to teams/players about potentially returning to ice/practice later this month (all subject to governmental approval). Suggests televising practices on return. Creative cap ideas (that don't involve roll back or 35% escrow). And more.

 

[mouser]

Also from the Eliotte Friedman podcast:

"I have heard the Owners are dead set against Compliance Buyouts. Absolutely against them. They've lost a lot of money as a group, their businesses, their stock prices, they don't want money outside the system."

Color me not the least bit surprised.

 

[LadyStanley]

(Paywall) Talking about MLB, NBA and NHL

LeBrun with list of return to play committee members.

It’s pretty clear that the NHL and NHLPA have identified resuming the 2019-20 season as a top priority. They’ve even created a Return To Play Committee which consists of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, deputy commissioner Bill Daly, NHL executive V-P Colin Campbell and schedule maker Steve Hatze Petros. From the NHLPA side executive, there is executive director Donald Fehr, Mathieu Schneider, Don Zavelo, Steve Webb, and NHL players John Tavares, Connor McDavid, Mark Scheifele, James van Riemsdyk and Ron Hainsey.

 

[LadyStanley]

LeBrun with 4 possibilities:

1) Cancel season and wait out virus to start play perhaps in December.

2) Play remaining games with 31 teams.

3) Play remaining RS games with 20-24 teams (and season over for those teams definitely out of playoffs), then playoffs.

4) Take top 16, play exhibitions and go straight into playoffs.

League doesn't want #1 with up to $500m at risk.

#3 would eliminate complaints from non playoff teams about coming back for a few weeks and then going away for months until next season.

 

[LadyStanley]

Slow progress

 

[PG Canuck]

LeBrun with 4 possibilities:

1) Cancel season and wait out virus to start play perhaps in December.

2) Play remaining games with 31 teams.

3) Play remaining RS games with 20-24 teams (and season over for those teams definitely out of playoffs), then playoffs.

4) Take top 16, play exhibitions and go straight into playoffs.

League doesn't want #1 with up to $500m at risk.

#3 would eliminate complaints from non playoff teams about coming back for a few weeks and then going away for months until next season.

I assume those players would get a reduction in their salary then?

 

[Ernie]

3) Play remaining RS games with 20-24 teams (and season over for those teams definitely out of playoffs), then playoffs.

This is a weird one. If they do the divisional format then it's wildly imbalanced. A quick peek suggest there are 4 teams in the Atlantic with a decent shot at the playoffs, 7 teams in the Metropolitan, 6 teams in the Central, and 4-5 teams in the Pacific.

This is why I think the round robin format with all teams in each division makes the most sense. If the bottom feeder teams want to mail it in, that's up to them, but at least all the teams in the division get to play that bottom feeder, and at least there should be no incentive to fail down for a better draft pick anymore.

The players were paid to play the games, and a 7 game "road trip" at the end of the season shouldn't be a big deal. If a player wants to mail it in, it'll reflect poorly on that player and affect their future contracts.

 

[LadyStanley]

ESPN article interviewing Sharks president on return to play scenarios.

Including players, hockey staff, medical staff, officials, broadcasters, etc., that's about 250 folks to start a game.

 

[LadyStanley]

NHL player poll: What they are saying about resuming the...

(Paywall) the Athletic pulled players to see if they want resume 19-20 season. A lot of caveats, but majority side want to play out RS and playoffs.