Series Talk: Qualifying Round: Carolina Hurricanes vs. New York Rangers

[egelband]

the big question there is do they only play games at T-Mobile Arena or are there other rinks in the area that they can use since there are no fans and you don't need to worry about capacity....assuming that they only play at the one arena, I would expect to see more of an Olympic style schedule spread through out the day. to not drag things out for 6 months, you probably are looking at something like 3 games a day.

also thinking they will alternate times between east and west games so they can clean/disinfect the benches, locker rooms etc between games. it will result in some less than ideal timeslots (unless people are still home) but putting all the games at 7pm isn't possible with 1 rink

and this would all be true regardless of time zones...

All those fancy casinos have bigass humidors. High rollers love those fat stogies.

 

[Tawnos]

the big question there is do they only play games at T-Mobile Arena or are there other rinks in the area that they can use since there are no fans and you don't need to worry about capacity....assuming that they only play at the one arena, I would expect to see more of an Olympic style schedule spread through out the day. to not drag things out for 6 months, you probably are looking at something like 3 games a day.

also thinking they will alternate times between east and west games so they can clean/disinfect the benches, locker rooms etc between games. it will result in some less than ideal timeslots (unless people are still home) but putting all the games at 7pm isn't possible with 1 rink

and this would all be true regardless of time zones...

East and West aren't going to be in the same city. All you need are two rinks and alternating nights. 2 games each night in both cities, so 4 games per night total.

 

[Leetch3]

East and West aren't going to be in the same city. All you need are two rinks and alternating nights. 2 games each night in both cities, so 4 games per night total.

east and west are in different cities...but in each city for the opening round you will have the 2 round robin games (top 4) plus 4 play-in series...so 6 total games. if you only do 2 games per day and then you are looking at 3+ days just to get thru game 1s depending on if you want east and west to play at the same time for tv. each additional round will have less series at the same time which simplifies it

they won't need travel days but still need off days....and if they are going to start in august the playoffs can't stretch out for 4 months. its long enough under normal circumstances.

 

[Tawnos]

east and west are in different cities...but in each city for the opening round you will have the 2 round robin games (top 4) plus 4 play-in series...so 6 total games. if you only do 2 games per day and then you are looking at 3+ days just to get thru game 1s depending on if you want east and west to play at the same time for tv. each additional round will have less series at the same time which simplifies it

they won't need travel days but still need off days....and if they are going to start in august the playoffs can't stretch out for 4 months. its long enough under normal circumstances.

I forgot about the round robins, but actually on 2 games per night, you're still only talking about 13 days versus 10 if you didn't count the round robins. Really not a big difference. Just as an example:

Day 1: QR Series 1-Game 1, QR 2-1
Day 2: QR 3-1, QR 4-1
Day 3: RR 1v2, RR 3v4
Day 4: QR 1-2, QR 2-2
Day 5: QR 3-2, QR 4-2
Day 6: RR 1v3, RR 2v4
Day 7: QR 1-3, QR 2-3
Day 8: QR 3-3, QR 3-4
Day 9: RR 1v4, RR 2v3
Day 10: QR 1-4, QR 2-4
Day 11: QR 3-4, QR 4-4
Day 12: QR 1-5, QR 2-5
Day 13: QR 3-5, QR 4-5

 

[romba]

Ice sheet won't be an issue as mentioned above.

LV becoming a COVID hotbed is a concern. Players will be isolated, however the restaurants the players will have access to will have individuals who go out into the real world (limited, but can't be completely prevented). Spread seems to happen mostly in larger groups while indoors, and less from the person you pass in the store for 30 seconds, but if it becomes prevalent enough in LV then it's bound to seep into the NHL as well. Hopefully they test the peripheral player contacts as frequently as the players....

I already got my hopes dashed taking my son to his first NHL game this year, now ima get my hopes up sky-high again for NHL to be back, only to be dashed the day before the tournament is set to begin.

 

[bobbop]

Las Vegas has excellent ice. So good, in fact, the guys from Arizona went up there to see what they are doing differently.

In addition to the big rink, VGK’s AHL team is going to play at the Orleans Arena this year and the MGM Grand Garden can also accommodate hockey. They will probably use one or the other. VGK also has a three year old training complex with two rinks.

 

[Irishguy42]

Multiple rinks is more ideal than a single rink.

 

[cwede]

I forgot about the round robins, but actually on 2 games per night, you're still only talking about 13 days versus 10 if you didn't count the round robins. Really not a big difference. Just as an example:
Day 1: QR Series 1-Game 1, QR 2-1 Day 2: QR 3-1, QR 4-1
Day 3: RR 1v2, RR 3v4 Day 4: QR 1-2, QR 2-2
Day 5: QR 3-2, QR 4-2 Day 6: RR 1v3, RR 2v4
Day 7: QR 1-3, QR 2-3 Day 8: QR 3-3, QR 3-4
Day 9: RR 1v4, RR 2v3 Day 10: QR 1-4, QR 2-4
Day 11: QR 3-4, QR 4-4 Day 12: QR 1-5, QR 2-5
Day 13: QR 3-5, QR 4-5

i hope the 'preliminary round' is not that extended
there has been online speculation that NHL is considering the old-school schedule of back-to-back, day off, back- to-back..
they don't need 2 weeks to play 18-26 games across 12 teams...
even with days off between games 2-3 and 4-5 they could get it all done in 7-8 days

 

[Tawnos]

i hope the 'preliminary round' is not that extended
there has been online speculation that NHL is considering the old-school schedule of back-to-back, day off, back- to-back..
they don't need 2 weeks to play 18-26 games across 12 teams...
even with days off between games 2-3 and 4-5 they could get it all done in 7-8 days

If the choice is between having the games on TV at normal hockey game times and getting it done in 7-8 days, I choose having the games on TV at normal times. I don't see the point in hockey coming back in this manner and trying to raise the excitement level, if the games aren't at a time where the usual audience can watch them. That schedule is based on having 2 rinks available.

So, ultimately, it depends on how many rinks they have. As mentioned above, there are more sheets of ice than just the 2. The more rinks they have, the quicker they can do this round. Then again, the rinks also need to be capable of a decent broadcast. Not sure the sheets of ice at the training complex would be.

 

[NYSPORTS]

Vegas is truly an awful choice, considering pandemic circumstances. They are doing HORRENDOUSLY and are primed for a harsh second wave.

Vegas barley had a first wave so how are they “doing HORRENDOUSLY”?

Vegas has low numbers and more hotels than any other city i believe. Quarantine a few of their many hotels and i can’t think of a safer way.

 

[Larrybiv]

I don't get why Carolina cares about the playoffs, they have zero chance winning the Cup and they get no revenue from home games.

After just a little while, that guy annoyed the hell out of me......regardless of the pro-Rangers context. Repeated himself, literally beating it to death.

 

[Larrybiv]

As a Yankee fan, I think this is a very bad idea.

Lol. Yeah maybe. Take nothing for granted, right? Just a very sentimental moment on insanity thought.

 

[Larrybiv]

If your hypothetical scenario happens and they're up 3-0, there isn't a chance in hell Quinn removes whoever has just went up 3-0 in net. No dice. Hank won't need a start for people to realize he had a hand in it. His career record and accolades speak for themselves.

And also you got to believe that Hank had his select opinions about opposing players, and some very good insight to help Igor along. I mean you just have to believe that, because Hank is quite the teammate.

 

[Irishguy42]

Las Vegas barely had a first wave?

Clark County was the hardest hit in Nevada, and Vegas practically IS Clark County. If you look at data at the zip code level, it was Las Vegas that pretty much got hit the hardest at the beginning of the pandemic, and it's still bad/re-surging since they re-opened at end of May/beginning of June.

The SNHD website is struggling right now (rightfully so due to the re-surging case numbers and people wanting to stay updated), but here are some screengrabs (from the Las Vegas Review-Journal).

Back in mid-April:

As of Saturday:

But no, you're right, Vegas/Clark County barely had a first wave and has low numbers.

 

[kovazub94]

did you even read my post? i said the nhl was clearly looking for the worst possible location and based on that vegas was the obvious choice.

Sorry, I actually did a few times but clearly it wasn’t enough. ; )

 

[Larrybiv]

That's a bread factory! One Panarin after another.

 

[Gospel of Prospal]

It'll be a good matchup. Carolina has a very deep blue line. Dougie Hamilton, Vatanen, Pesce, TVR, Skjei, Slavin, Fleury, Edmunson, Gardiner. It'll be interesting to see who they dress.

They have scoring in Svech, Trochek, Tervanen and Aho. They have veteran leadership in Justin Williams, Niederreiter and Dzingel.


It's definitely going to be a good matchup and a really tough test for our very young team. We need to stay out of the penalty box in order to have a chance.

 

[Levitate]

man I do not see how this is going to work...what if there's an outbreak on one team? do you play on? are players forced to quarantine for 2 weeks if they test positive? are teams banned from the tournament if a bunch of players test positive?

While I'm interested in hockey again this whole thing seems like a disaster waiting to happen

 

[haveandare]

man I do not see how this is going to work...what if there's an outbreak on one team? do you play on? are players forced to quarantine for 2 weeks if they test positive? are teams banned from the tournament if a bunch of players test positive?

While I'm interested in hockey again this whole thing seems like a disaster waiting to happen

I agree. I want hockey and am excited on that level but I expect this to be a disaster on some level

 

[JimmyG89]

The area where Vegas is can be tracked here: COVID-19 Dashboard

One of the interesting things they have on their site that I wish more had was infection rate. The testing tab has this.

At it's peak, this area was around 19.5% and this was in March. They were as low as 3.2% and they have of course opened up and cases has gone up, but not to the point it was in March. Sitting at 8% right now. I'd think most of the testing is taking place in the Vegas area itself, as it is the area where the population is.

To add some context here, NYC peaked around 60% back when the virus was first being tracked (Coronavirus Statistics: Tracking The Epidemic In New York).

We're still about 6 weeks from teams being in the hub cities, so it's something that will have to be tracked.

 

[TominNC]

Las Vegas has excellent ice. So good, in fact, the guys from Arizona went up there to see what they are doing differently.

In addition to the big rink, VGK’s AHL team is going to play at the Orleans Arena this year and the MGM Grand Garden can also accommodate hockey. They will probably use one or the other. VGK also has a three year old training complex with two rinks.

They need those other rinks for practice.

 

[Edge]

One of the things to consider when looking at Vegas is that it's not going to have the same amount of traffic coming and going right now --- which was a big a driver in what had them hit so hard.

I mean there are places that shut down, and then there was Vegas.

In this case, it's somewhat easier to house and quarantine players than other sites. Essentially, Vegas can more or less accommodate an "Olympic Village" type approach.

 

[NYSPORTS]

In this case, it's somewhat easier to house and quarantine players than other sites. Essentially, Vegas can more or less accommodate an "Olympic Village" type approach.

Of course +1. They have more hotel rooms than any other city in the US. Bus the teams back and forth between quarantined hotels, etc. Common sense rather than the hyperbowl perception Vegas as been horrendous despite less 12K total infections.

 

[Maximus]

It'll be a good matchup. Carolina has a very deep blue line. Dougie Hamilton, Vatanen, Pesce, TVR, Skjei, Slavin, Fleury, Edmunson, Gardiner. It'll be interesting to see who they dress.

They have scoring in Svech, Trochek, Tervanen and Aho. They have veteran leadership in Justin Williams, Niederreiter and Dzingel.


It's definitely going to be a good matchup and a really tough test for our very young team. We need to stay out of the penalty box in order to have a chance.

You make good points. I'm really wondering how the lack of a home ice advantage is going to play into this series and the others as well.

I mean are they going to pipe in crowd noise? When we score are we going to hear our awesome goal song? Having been to a few Ranger playoff games live, the electricity in the building at MSG is palpable. You can feel it as it's 10x more intense and electric than even the most intense regular season game.

Everyone is sitting on pins and needles stressed and nervous but excited at same time. I know we'll be feeling that at home watching but what about the players? They feed off of us and with it being so antiseptic on the ice with no fans, I'm really curious to see if the games are as intense as they have been till now as this has never been done or experienced before for both players and us fans.

We'll see and I can't wait for some hockey and for us "playoff" hockey but it's going to be awfully weird that's for damn sure!

 

[Maximus]

One of the things to consider when looking at Vegas is that it's not going to have the same amount of traffic coming and going right now --- which was a big a driver in what had them hit so hard.

I mean there are places that shut down, and then there was Vegas.

In this case, it's somewhat easier to house and quarantine players than other sites. Essentially, Vegas can more or less accommodate an "Olympic Village" type approach.

It does seem as if Vegas is going to do what ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando will be doing with the NBA basically putting a bubble on where the teams stay and play. I dunno it's going to be very weird to see how this works out.

I'm curious if they are going to pump in crowd noise. What about when we score a goal...will our awesome goal song come on blaring? I mean it's just so bizarre but it's going to be bizarre for everyone. I'm also wondering about the intensity. I've been to Ranger playoff games live including '94. The Garden electricity during the playoffs is just other worldly is the best way to describe it. You probably know as well Edge as I'm sure you've been too a few playoff games in your day.

I mean it's 10x as intense than even the most intense regular season game is. Now there will be none of that and the players often feed on us fans and there will be none of that either. It's going to be real interesting to see how these games go and whether they have a playoff feel or not.