I mean, you'd have to tighten up the face shields a fair bit..I'm sure I've eaten a lot of other players' snot after running them over, or vice versa!! 
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Le Hockey
- Thread starter Bill Talbot
- Start date
Thread Starter
TS
5/18 update on the NHL and it's options.
www.nhl.com
NHL looking at 8-9 sites as options to restart season, Commissioner says | NHL.com
League considering places that can safely accommodate 'dozen or so teams in one location'
www.nhl.com
MMA and WWE are game on with lots of testing and athletes having to stay isloated from society and family. That's a tough new dimension to being a star athlete that won't be sustainable at lower $ levels.
I think the NHL wants to have some finish to the season so they can figure out their draft etc. I don't think there's a short-term game plan below that... AHL can't afford it..
Thread Starter
TS
THIS is what the NHL came up with?!
Wake me up when real hockey starts in earnest.
Wake me up when real hockey starts in earnest.
Thread Starter
TS
NHL plans to return with 24 teams competing for Stanley Cup | NHL.com
Best-of-5 series, round-robin games begin in two hub cities
www.nhl.com
Hurricanes are a little pissed about 24 instead of 16. But, it seems fair to me because there were still possibilities for teams to move up or down from the top 16 had they played the remaining regular season games. Will be fun to see the Rangers and Canes Staal brothers competing against eachother. Is Minnesota in as well? Oh and Dougie Hamilton is back!NHL plans to return with 24 teams competing for Stanley Cup | NHL.com
Best-of-5 series, round-robin games begin in two hub cities
There will always be sore losers with this kind of setup...is what it is.. Call the wambulance..
Already???? And it never get old, does it..
idk, seems pretty dumb to throw out the previous ~68 games or whatever and rearrange the top 4 seeds in each conference based on a 3-game round robin, but ... it's a neutral-site tournament, so "home ice" matters less (though last change sure is nice...)There will always be sore losers with this kind of setup...is what it is.. Call the wambulance..
Pens have, what, the 7th best record in the league and better than 2 that have a bye in the West and have to play a 5 game qualifying round? Oh well, they are paying for their dismal performance in the last month or so of the regular season when they dropped from 1st to 3rd in their division.
Thread Starter
TS
This whole thing is just a massive train wreck...
They have to get the season done..get the draft order..do the draft..start next season. There'll be some grumbling..but hey..it's still not a done deal..this is just the format..there are a lot of things around player safety, families etc. Stay tuned..
Al least we have Guentzel back in the lineup. He’s one of those players that can get hot going into the playoffs. Losing him during the regular season and having him iffy coming back by playoff time is one upside to this wacky season.?
Thread Starter
TS
All series in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs will be best-of-7 and will be set based on seeding, the NHL announced Thursday.
When the NHL on May 26 announced its Return to Play Plan, which involves 24 teams in competition for the Stanley Cup, it said the length of the first-round and second-round series would be determined.
"Everybody is used to a best-of-7," Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang told The Associated Press. "You know how it's structured. You know how it feels if you lose the first two or you win the first two. You kind of know all the scenarios that can go through a best-of-7."
The tournament will begin with a 16-team, eight-series Qualifying Round (best-of-5) and a Seeding Round Robin among the top four teams in each conference to determine seeds for the playoffs.
In each round of the playoffs, the highest remaining seed in each conference will play the lowest remaining seed in that conference, the second-highest remaining seed will play the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. It will not be predetermined by a set bracket, the format that had been used since 2013-14.
Ties during the round-robin will be broken by regular-season points percentage. The seeding order for these top four teams will remain the same throughout the playoffs.
In the qualifying round, the higher-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 1, 2 and 5. The lower-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 3 and 4.
During the first round, second round and conference finals, the higher-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The lower-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 3, 4 and 6.
In the Stanley Cup Final, the team with the higher regular-season points percentage will be designated as the home team in Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The team with the lower regular-season points percentage will be designated as the home team in Games 3, 4 and 6.
"Any team that is going to win five rounds, four rounds of best-of-7 ... I think it will be a very worthy Stanley Cup champion and they'll be as worthy as any team or players that won it before them," Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares told the AP.
The NHL paused the regular season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and said the remaining 189 games would not be completed. The 12 qualifying teams from the Eastern and Western conferences were determined by points percentage as of that date. Seven teams did not qualify.
The qualifying round and round-robin will be held at two hub cities to be identified, one for the 12 participating Eastern Conference teams and one for the 12 Western Conference teams, and begin at a date to be determined.
In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers each will have a bye and play each other once in the round-robin to determine the order of the top four seeds for the first round of the playoffs.
The four Eastern Conference Qualifying Round series will be the Penguins against the Montreal Canadiens, the Carolina Hurricanes against the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders against the Florida Panthers, and the Maple Leafs against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
In the Western Conference, the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars each will have a bye and play in the round-robin to determine their seeding order.
The four Western Conference Qualifying Round series will be the Edmonton Oilers against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Nashville Predators against the Arizona Coyotes, the Vancouver Canucks against the Minnesota Wild, and the Calgary Flames against the Winnipeg Jets.
Phase 2 of the Return to Play Plan, which allows for voluntary limited workouts at team facilities, will begin June 8. Full training camps, part of Phase 3, will not begin before July 10.
When the NHL on May 26 announced its Return to Play Plan, which involves 24 teams in competition for the Stanley Cup, it said the length of the first-round and second-round series would be determined.
"Everybody is used to a best-of-7," Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang told The Associated Press. "You know how it's structured. You know how it feels if you lose the first two or you win the first two. You kind of know all the scenarios that can go through a best-of-7."
The tournament will begin with a 16-team, eight-series Qualifying Round (best-of-5) and a Seeding Round Robin among the top four teams in each conference to determine seeds for the playoffs.
In each round of the playoffs, the highest remaining seed in each conference will play the lowest remaining seed in that conference, the second-highest remaining seed will play the second-lowest remaining seed, and so forth. It will not be predetermined by a set bracket, the format that had been used since 2013-14.
Ties during the round-robin will be broken by regular-season points percentage. The seeding order for these top four teams will remain the same throughout the playoffs.
In the qualifying round, the higher-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 1, 2 and 5. The lower-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 3 and 4.
During the first round, second round and conference finals, the higher-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The lower-seeded team will be designated as the home team in Games 3, 4 and 6.
In the Stanley Cup Final, the team with the higher regular-season points percentage will be designated as the home team in Games 1, 2, 5 and 7. The team with the lower regular-season points percentage will be designated as the home team in Games 3, 4 and 6.
"Any team that is going to win five rounds, four rounds of best-of-7 ... I think it will be a very worthy Stanley Cup champion and they'll be as worthy as any team or players that won it before them," Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares told the AP.
The NHL paused the regular season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus and said the remaining 189 games would not be completed. The 12 qualifying teams from the Eastern and Western conferences were determined by points percentage as of that date. Seven teams did not qualify.
The qualifying round and round-robin will be held at two hub cities to be identified, one for the 12 participating Eastern Conference teams and one for the 12 Western Conference teams, and begin at a date to be determined.
In the Eastern Conference, the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers each will have a bye and play each other once in the round-robin to determine the order of the top four seeds for the first round of the playoffs.
The four Eastern Conference Qualifying Round series will be the Penguins against the Montreal Canadiens, the Carolina Hurricanes against the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders against the Florida Panthers, and the Maple Leafs against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
In the Western Conference, the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars each will have a bye and play in the round-robin to determine their seeding order.
The four Western Conference Qualifying Round series will be the Edmonton Oilers against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Nashville Predators against the Arizona Coyotes, the Vancouver Canucks against the Minnesota Wild, and the Calgary Flames against the Winnipeg Jets.
Phase 2 of the Return to Play Plan, which allows for voluntary limited workouts at team facilities, will begin June 8. Full training camps, part of Phase 3, will not begin before July 10.
I think the issue is they don't know where the games will be played. The current political climate in the US is problematic and crossing the border is tricky. Just like the old Zen Master.. We'll see..
A 3-game round robin to decide the top 4 seeds seems dumb to me ... why are those 3 games worth more than the ~70 games that have already been played? But ... I don't think that's a huge deal.
Still a lot to be negotiated, but hopefully we'll get an announcement on training camps (at least structure) soon. Also curious on where they'll play. I'd be surprised if one of the hub cities wasn't in Canada.
Still a lot to be negotiated, but hopefully we'll get an announcement on training camps (at least structure) soon. Also curious on where they'll play. I'd be surprised if one of the hub cities wasn't in Canada.
I think there is some disappointment that teams that were on a roll are now neutralized, and the teams that were tanking are on a level field again. So yeah, I think some are disappointed. However, I don't know why they went that way other than to try to say that games were still to be played and who knows how that would have gone.
As for hub cities, it sounds like they may only want to play in one country. The border is technically closed and they would have to get special treatment to open it up to players and that might be optically poor. I heard they were talking 2 US cities, probably LV and another place..but now with the border issue, I don't know. Toronto and Edmonton were pushing to be hub cities. With the current unrest in the US (and maybe here, this weekend could be problematic in Toronto...) they were thinking back to Canada. I think they just have a structure at this point..now it's a whole other raft of issues they have to overcome. Will players report? That's a big if. Guys with families may not want to disappear for 40 or 50 days or whatever, because they can't go home once they start. I know if I were in that situation I probably wouldn't go. But some will. So you may not even get the full team..so the round robin begins to look less of a big issue. We'll see..
I think finances will dictate a push for one of the cities to be in Canada. I'd be surprised if the border were a huge issue for this, but who knows?
I just hope we'll have some hockey to watch in a month or two
I just hope we'll have some hockey to watch in a month or two
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