UPDATE: NHLPA votes for further negotiations on 24-team return to play format

[Monahammer]

Too many unknowns. I think they should end this season, begin the offseason, and put concerted effort towards creating a system of rules, checks, and balances with the contribution of policy makers to ensure that next season can start sometime later this year. I think that is more achievable than throwing everyone back together when we don't have all the information we need and hoping for the best. If you turn everything back on, and a major incident occurs, it could seriously jeopardize the potential of NEXT season starting on time.I know the owners are losing money but they're going to be losing money either way, everyone is losing money in this scenario.

[Monahammer]

Theres the other side to this risk as well. When we risk outbreaks, it's not only the people doing the activity who are then put at risk. It is also the healthcare workers that will inevitably have to treat some of them, their families, and everyone else who they may contact who had no part in actually taking the original risk. There is a lot of collateral damage potential.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Too many unknowns. I think they should end this season, begin the offseason, and put concerted effort towards creating a system of rules, checks, and balances with the contribution of policy makers to ensure that next season can start sometime later this year. I think that is more achievable than throwing everyone back together when we don't have all the information we need and hoping for the best. If you turn everything back on, and a major incident occurs, it could seriously jeopardize the potential of NEXT season starting on time.I know the owners are losing money but they're going to be losing money either way, everyone is losing money in this scenario.

Next season is not staring on time regardless if there is summer hockey or not. NHL summer hockey will not impact a december start either. If any sport is going to push back late starting dates it will be NFL football. They are staring their full season around October.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Theres the other side to this risk as well. When we risk outbreaks, it's not only the people doing the activity who are then put at risk. It is also the healthcare workers that will inevitably have to treat some of them, their families, and everyone else who they may contact who had no part in actually taking the original risk. There is a lot of collateral damage potential.

Healthcare workers have been dealing with this for months. Having a couple of players testing positive would not put a dent into the all ready crap position they are in. You do realize some of us have been working through this pandemic with no real difference than before the pandemic. Im an electrician and work sites have basically been run the same way except for being told to continually wash hands ect. With all the guidlines that the NHL would put in to make this a go, it would probably be a hell of alot safer than what some, if not most of candian workers have had durring the pandemic.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

I don't really understand the people who are against a resolution to the season, as long as it was done in a safe manner, and the NHL does everything to address the virus concerns and followed all necessary steps as mandated by the government.

This whole talk about having an asterisk beside the winner is silly IMO. There's no asterisk beside the teams who won during the lockout seasons. You better believe I'd be celebrating my pants off if the Flames win this season.

This is nothing like the lock-out seasons. Completely different and wholly unprecedented.

And if the Oilers won this thing, you better believe you'd be putting an asterisk on it.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by albertGQ

Bill Daly already said if one player tests positive, that doesn’t meant the whole team shuts down.

Not sure why people are ignoring that quote.

This is what Dr. Hinshaw said regarding the question of a single positive test...

https://twitter.com/user/status/1257796869339541504


I don't see any way that they could follow that procedure and not completely shut down the whole hub, at least in Alberta (other states and provinces may be willing to bend the rules).

[MoneyGuy]

Daly to TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, “...we do not believe that one positive test, even multiple positive tests wouldn’t necessarily shut the whole thing down.

Double negative is a positive.

[MoneyGuy]

double post

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by troutman

This is nothing like the lock-out seasons. Completely different and wholly unprecedented.

And if the Oilers won this thing, you better believe you'd be putting an asterisk on it.

Sure, but I'd be putting an asterisk on it because I'm a bitter fan. Like I give a crap how Oiler and Canuck fans try to rationalize a Flames win. That banner hanging in the rafters looks just the same to me.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

Next season is not staring on time regardless if there is summer hockey or not. NHL summer hockey will not impact a december start either. If any sport is going to push back late starting dates it will be NFL football. They are staring their full season around October.

What logic went into this thought? Why would the NHL rush to start this season up when as you say it is certain that the league can't restart on time next season? That doesn't make any sense. Wouldn't 4 months from now have a better chance of starting safely than right now?

Nonsensical position, but you've helped to make my point. Rushing back and creating potential infectious scenarios at this point will likely harm any future efforts to get back to the ice (skeptical policy makers, players fearing infection, etc.) If you work hard now to set all of the parameters and health principles for a safe start next season, you could realistically achieve it in a reasonable time frame.

[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by kyuss275

Healthcare workers have been dealing with this for months. Having a couple of players testing positive would not put a dent into the all ready crap position they are in. You do realize some of us have been working through this pandemic with no real difference than before the pandemic. Im an electrician and work sites have basically been run the same way except for being told to continually wash hands ect. With all the guidlines that the NHL would put in to make this a go, it would probably be a hell of alot safer than what some, if not most of candian workers have had durring the pandemic.

Yes, because electricians are frequently breathing heavily all over eachother and jostling around together in large groups during a pandemic that is exclusively spread by respiratory droplets.

This is friggen ridiculous lol. Your job is in no way comparable to what the NHL players will be doing, and the risk level isn't even in the same stratosphere. You're right the healthcare workers have been dealing with it for months, I bet if you did a poll of them the vast majority would say F no to reopening sports leagues right now. Just a hunch (not a hunch)

[Monahammer]

"Hey guys I haven't caught corona yet living out on my farm with my cows, so that must mean it's totally safe for all of you to go out to the meat packing plant again. I'm sure that the cargill safety measure will be adequate. "

-kyuss

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by transplant99

OK then...his statement means nothing then because there is literally no way to know at this point. It may not "shut the whole thing down", but it's pretty likely it shuts that particular team down. Bill Daly is a really smart guy but in this case i think he is doing nothing more than toeing the company line.

In reality though...if it is a player who tests positive, every guy on that team will be told to self isolate as they have obviously been exposed in close quarters. We have seen it all over the place already. Unless they are deemed essential, hockey players and everyone associated are no different than you or me or joe blow on the corner.

That's why this seems like such an aggressive goal. I just dont see health authorities changing protocols for the NHL when the rest of those under their guidance have a different set of rules to follow.

I sincerely hope they can figure a way to do this that complies with all the local restrictions, but more so I hope they dont put anyone at risk (the optics of this would be so very very bad)....and that, as it stands, is nearly impossible at this point.

lAll that being said MLB looks like they are moving ahead and already have ideas/plans that haven't been made public that covers all these concerns?

Sports are already following a different set of rules. For example, UFC 249 took place this weekend but you could definitely not legally hold a wedding with a similar number of people

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

Yes, because electricians are frequently breathing heavily all over eachother and jostling around together in large groups during a pandemic that is exclusively spread by respiratory droplets.

This is friggen ridiculous lol. Your job is in no way comparable to what the NHL players will be doing, and the risk level isn't even in the same stratosphere. You're right the healthcare workers have been dealing with it for months, I bet if you did a poll of them the vast majority would say F no to reopening sports leagues right now. Just a hunch (not a hunch)

They can’t start on time because they need the gate from fan base to succeed for a full season. They won’t be able to have fans in buildings because of the restrictions. They have already said if they started in December they probably wouldn’t be able to have fans for the first couple months at the very least. Nhl does not have the tv deals that the nfl or nba have.

And enlighten me how their risk level is in a different “stratosphere” ? The trades are one of the dirtiest , unsanitized levels of essential workers going right now. They wouldn’t have even close to the protocol measures in place that the nhl would be putting in.

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Monahammer

"Hey guys I haven't caught corona yet living out on my farm with my cows, so that must mean it's totally safe for all of you to go out to the meat packing plant again. I'm sure that the cargill safety measure will be adequate. "

-kyuss

Don’t put my name to your stupid quote.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Which is all the more reason why it needs to remain at 16 teams. It has been this way for almost 30 years, and in a +30-team League a cutoff at 16 is just about perfect. I see no good reason at all to expand the format, even in the unusual present circumstances.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

Out of curiousity, how would you determine the 16?

Originally Posted by getbak

Plus, the NHL arenas are designed and equipped with the necessary infrastructure to do major live broadcasts. The camera positions and hook-ups are in place and ready to go.

Even then, they'll probably need to set up production facilities on the arena concourses or somewhere else in the buildings because the regular production trucks don't have enough room to maintain proper distancing. A small arena won't have the extra space they'll need, especially if they decide to have the broadcasters live on-site and not call the games remotely.

That doesn't even factor in standardized boards, glass, and ice-making equipment or the need for NHL-calibre dressing rooms (of which they'll need a minimum of 4 per arena).

Another big one is lighting - it might be the biggest factor of why lower-level league broadcasts look crappy (of course cheaper cameras and where they are positioned are also an issue, but even if you fixed those it would still look like crap without the best lighting). All of those issues can be resolved at a cost, but keeping expenses low seems imperative to make this work.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

Sports are already following a different set of rules. For example, UFC 249 took place this weekend but you could definitely not legally hold a wedding with a similar number of people

Well, Florida is following a different set of rules. I wouldn't use them as a guide for what to expect from other jurisdictions.

[powderjunkie]

I've heard that most NBA regional deals have clauses that give 100% revenue if the team plays 70 games. It seems likely that a similar structure might be in place with the NHL, considering how many stakeholders overlap (ie. it's the standard structure for an 82 gp league).

If that were true, NJD and BUF are the only teams outside of the presumptive 24 team format who did not reach the 70 gp mark. But there are a few big markets <70: VAN, PIT, PHI...and WAS, MIN, NAS, DAL, CAR, NYI, FLA.


Another thing that is interesting, exactly 24 teams are considered to have odds >0.0% of making the playoffs on this link. Of course MTL are 0.1% and CHI are 2.5%, but it's neat how that has shaken out.

7 teams are >98.8%
10 more teams are > 93.4 % (5 East, 5 West...sadly including the Oilers as the 93.4)

79.2 CAR
74.9 TOR
70.0 VAN
65.7 CGY

57.0 WIN
56.6 NYI
55.3 NAS
48.9 MIN

37.9 FLA
33.6 CBJ

21.8 NYR
13.0 ARI

2.5 CHI
0.1 MTL


As much as we can parse the current standings, this might be a more accurate/fair picture of where things stand. One thing I would not like to see is CHI or MTL given the same blank slate/even odds of making the final 16 as DAL/PIT/EDM, who were essentially 'in'. Nor should ARI/NYR have an equal path to 16 as a team with >70% odds.

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by getbak

Well, Florida is following a different set of rules. I wouldn't use them as a guide for what to expect from other jurisdictions.

We'll see. The POTUS is pushing hard for sports and he literally added Vince McMahon and Dana White, who have been aggressively trying to circumvent covid-19 protocols the entire time, to his economic task force.


Methinks he will do everything in his power for sports to resume in the US before the election, including relaxing protocols or giving leagues exemptions for protocols.

[Monahammer]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bus...e-2020-5%3famp

Daily reported new cases triple in germany only 1 week after relaxing regulations.