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Originally Posted by getbak
There's not really any way to do away with the 14 day quarantine. It can take that long for someone to test positive after exposure. Trying to cut corners on that is a recipe for an outbreak.
Ohio State University has a Division 1 hockey team that plays in its own 18,000 seat arena on campus (about 4 miles from Nationwide Arena). The OSU women's team plays in a smaller arena on campus that could be used as a practice rink. Nationwide also has a practice rink attached to the arena.
In Vegas, the Golden Knights are moving their AHL affiliate into the Orleans Casino's arena, so it should have all the necessary amenities. Their practice facility has 2 rinks in it. Plus, many of the other casinos have arenas that have ice-making capabilities. The Kings used to host a preseason game at the MGM Grand every year. I'm not sure if the Thomas & Mack Center at UNLV has ice-making equipment, but if it does, that would be another option.
In terms of ice quality, my understanding is that the biggest issue in maintaining good ice in the summer is humidity. That isn't a problem in Vegas. If they're going to be playing in empty rinks, they won't need to worry about body heat and can minimize the amount of time the doors are open, which will make maintaining a constant temperature easier.
I don't know about maintaining quality ice in Columbus.
In terms of scheduling, if they do what was talked about last week and resume with 24 teams split into 4 groups of 6, each team would play one additional game against the other 5 teams in their group to "finish" the regular season. That's a total of 15 games for each group of 6. I'd say that 8 days is the minimum amount of time that you could expect a team to play 5 games. If you stretch that to 10 days, you can start play on a Friday and go through the following Sunday. 15 games over 10 days in each rink shouldn't be too stressful for the ice, especially if they don't have to deal with large crowds elevating the temperature.
For the playoffs, assuming they'd still be using 2 arenas in each city for the first round (and a play-in round if they have one), they could run the two series in each arena on alternating nights. In the second round, they could move into just one arena and still run the games on alternating nights. For the third round and the Finals, you'd only have one series in each city.
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I just wanted to point out that I was replying to a 2 hub scenario, which dramatically impacts the scheduling you mention.
The arenas info is well taken, certainly ohio state's facilities are adequate for playing, but what about televising?? that is the entire point at this juncture, is it not? I would be surprised if you could televise a strong product at any of the practice rinks.