Poll - How much more hockey will there be this season?

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Anything can go wrong but I’m choosing to be optimistic given that the rest of the season will be played up here in Canada rather than the shit-show down south.

 

[bax]

Voted 4 but who knows. It'll be interesting to follow that's for sure.

 

[Advanced stats]

In theory once it starts, it gets exponentially easier to prevent an outbreak as we progress round by round. By the time you reach the conference finals you've decreased the number of people involved by 80%+.

Basically, I think once it starts, its going to finish. There's no middle ground.

 

[Gary Nylund]

You can deal with it better then. I'd rather see teams have players missing early regular season games than Stanley Cup playoff games. I think the counter argument that it's just like a player catching a flu or getting injured is complete bunk.

More questions from me: 1. What makes this season so special that it has to be finished? (yeah yeah...money...blah blah; not like the league hasn't fulfilled a full season obligation before ); 2. As a result, why screw up the next 3/4/5 seasons and push them back into July and August just to finish a disjointed season that will see a winner announced 7 months after the fact?

They might make it through the playoffs, if they do then their decision will look good. It's always about money, that's just the way it is. Not sure the next 3/4/5 seasons will be messed up, maybe just one? I'd just shorten next season to 50/60 games or whatever and try to get back to normal after that but we'll see what happens.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

They might make it through the playoffs, if they do then their decision will look good. It's always about money, that's just the way it is. Not sure the next 3/4/5 seasons will be messed up, maybe just one? I'd just shorten next season to 50/60 games or whatever and try to get back to normal after that but we'll see what happens.

Ideally, yes. I've said the same. Just make next season a shortened season.

But the NHL is adamant they want an 82-game schedule next season, along with being comfortable pushing next season in to the summer again. So it'd take a few years to catch up.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

Because of money blah blah
Next season is likely worse than this season for HRR if limited fans, this will be bad for 3-4 seasons before the players catch up, that’s why the cba was extended, to spread the pain over several years .

I just think the league runs the risk of not only screwing up one season (this one), but two (next one as well).

 

[Gary Nylund]

Ideally, yes. I've said the same. Just make next season a shortened season.

But the NHL is adamant they want an 82-game schedule next season, along with being comfortable pushing next season in to the summer again. So it'd take a few years to catch up.

Yikes! I wasn't aware of that, haven't paying close enough attention I guess. At first blush, this seems like a really bad idea, don't even know what else to say.

 

[kevsh]

I would've taken #2 or #3 as recently as last week, but I think the number of positive tests may scare players into being extra cautious leading up to training camp.

Secondly, the fact that the hubs are in Canada, which is managing the pandemic far better than the States right now, suggests to me there will be a far less chance of anyone getting infected after they reach Edmonton/Toronto.

As long as the league and each team is ultra-strict on enforcing the distancing/hygiene, etc. guidelines for everyone involved - and that includes players, team staff, officials and arena personnel.

 

[Plat87]

4 because its being held in Canada, 1 or 2 if it was held in the clusterf*** that is America.

 

[PuckMagi]

Since it's being held in Canada, this has a reasonable chance of working. There really aren't that many new cases in Canada, so they should be able to keep the virus out if they're careful.

I think a second wave is possible in Canada once we enter our normal cold/flu season. So the NHL will have to be extra vigilant if we see cases start to rise again.

I think we might see a few delays where some games have to be postponed. Could be something like a food delivery driver entered the quarantine area and infected another staff so they have to shut things down and test a bunch of people to make sure it's not going to spread more. So I think there could be a couple of cases that sneak through somehow and they'll have to pause while they make sure they've caught all the cases so it doesn't spread more.

This virus isn't all that hard to defeat if you're careful about how you do things. If you're not careful, it spreads extremely easily. Governments have been pretty incompetent about this, but hopefully the NHL will be much better since they're on a much smaller scale and with a much bigger budget.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I would've taken #2 or #3 as recently as last week, but I think the number of positive tests may scare players into being extra cautious leading up to training camp.

Secondly, the fact that the hubs are in Canada, which is managing the pandemic far better than the States right now, suggests to me there will be a far less chance of anyone getting infected after they reach Edmonton/Toronto.

As long as the league and each team is ultra-strict on enforcing the distancing/hygiene, etc. guidelines for everyone involved - and that includes players, team staff, officials and arena personnel.

A good indication of how unpredictable all this is. Really hope they can pull it off, I miss hockey!

 

[kb]

Interesting poll Gary.....I really think the range of outcomes is so wide. There are many facets to consider, such as the virus, the players willingness to possibly be exposed to it, and possible further government limits, as they seem to be cracking down here even though the numbers in Canada for the most part show a massive decline. Rather bizarre why they are clamping down hard again, but it is what it is.

 

[cupcrazyman]

We gonna pick 1st again so my guess is 4 games. lol

 

[Golden_Jet]

Interesting poll Gary.....I really think the range of outcomes is so wide. There are many facets to consider, such as the virus, the players willingness to possibly be exposed to it, and possible further government limits, as they seem to be cracking down here even though the numbers in Canada for the most part show a massive decline. Rather bizarre why they are clamping down hard again, but it is what it is.

I believe the clampdown is coming for phase 3 so there is no setbacks hopefully

 

[kb]

I believe the clampdown is coming for phase 3 so there is no setbacks hopefully

I believe you are right on that once they get everyone into the bubble. Here's hoping it works out. Starting to look forward to the sprint to the Cup.

 

[I am Canadian]

These are some legitimate concerns from Williams.
Carolina Hurricanes' Justin Williams fearful of positive tests once play begins - TSN.ca

What happens if a few players on a team (or your team) come down with the virus during any given round?

It’s mid July. Is it really worth it instead of waiting until October to start anew.

What makes you think it will be any safer in October? We going to have a hub for all 31 teams?