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

[powderjunkie]

NBA standings made that a super easy decision.

8th and 9th are separated by 5.5 and 3.5 wins in each conference.

[monkeyman]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

We've been over this already, no? The reason Winnipeg will not be considered for a "hub" city is because of the shortage of infrastructure. The city does not have enough room and resources to accommodate all the team, league and network personnel for a lengthy tournament.

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Have we? I don't read every single post, And I don't keep a list of available hotel rooms and vacancy rates of of all Canadian Cites.
What's your source of information?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Looks like the NBA is taking a vastly different approach

I like this approach better although it makes for the possibility of two teams from the same conference facing off in the finals which would be unprecedented. Then again this whole tournament thing is unprecedented and at the very least this format lends to the most fair way of awarding the championship with the best teams having the best odds as it should be.

[Strange Brew]

I thought the league and it’s officials were totally biased to provide McDavid and the Oilers every advantage possible. Now I’m hearing they have a bias against Alberta.

I am just so confused. Don’t know which conspiracy to believe.

[monkeyman]

LOL. What next, people are going to start arguing about how completely fair reffing and suspensions are?

[1qqaaz]

It seems like at the end of the day, these decisions are made entirely based off of money. This is true for both the owners and the players.
Fairness takes a bit of a back seat.

I don't think there are any "conspiracies" to help Edmonton, or to be anti-Alberta. The more games are played, the more money is made. End of story.
Tampa and Carolina, the rumored teams to have voted no, only did so for financial reasons.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by monkeyman

Have we? I don't read every single post, And I don't keep a list of available hotel rooms and vacancy rates of of all Canadian Cites.
What's your source of information?

Back when the whole "hub" concept was first mentioned, I think it was TSN who broke down the chances of each city being chosen. Winnipeg was in the "no chance" group because they don't have an adequate number of hotels that meet the league's standards.

That was when they were still talking about 6 teams in each hub, so they're definitely out if it's 12 teams.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

NBA standings made that a super easy decision.

8th and 9th are separated by 5.5 and 3.5 wins in each conference.

NHL would have 100% done this too if that gaps were enough between 8-9.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by 1qqaaz

It seems like at the end of the day, these decisions are made entirely based off of money. This is true for both the owners and the players.
Fairness takes a bit of a back seat....

I don't think that is entirely fair. We don't know much about the inner workings of these discussions, but from the outside it does appear that they are also taking measures to ensure public safety.

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[monkeyman]

The more I think about it, the more I think Vancourver would be the best Canadian city to host as hub.
They've expressed interest.
They have international airport access.
They're Covid-19 rates have stabilized and remain low.
They're testing rates have dropped significantly, leaving lots of availability to test players, refs, and other team personal.
The players would be more willing to go there.
It's certainly much more marketable than Edmonton.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by monkeyman

The more I think about it, the more I think Vancourver would be the best Canadian city to host as hub.
They've expressed interest.
They have international airport access.
They're Covid-19 rates have stabilized and remain low.
They're testing rates have dropped significantly, leaving lots of availability to test players, refs, and other team personal.
The players would be more willing to go there.
It's certainly much more marketable than Edmonton.

I agree with everything else, but as others have pointed out this last bit is probably not worth any consideration. The players and teams won't care about where they play so long as they are playing, and the conditions are up to NHL standards. Fans won't care where they are playing, because the inside of an empty arena looks like the inside of every other arena. Even in the event players are holed-up in Edmonton for days or weeks, it's not like they will be navigating the culture of Edmonton; they will spend all their days between hotels, practice facilities, and the arena on game-days. If anything, Edmonton might make the most sense just by virtue of the fact that it's desolation provides for a much more easily controlled environment, with fewer potential distractions.

[Toonage]

Edmonton can't claim to be tailor-made for many things, but this for circumstance? It really is. That setup for teams to play, practice & live in a secure bubble is outstanding.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

NHL would have 100% done this too if that gaps were enough between 8-9.

Gaps don't matter at the end of the season as a team can miss the playoffs by a single point after 82 games or even after being tied with the 8th place team and having less regulation wins so why should gaps matter now? The league didn't have control over when the season ended so I don't see the issue in drawing the line where things ended. Take the top 16 teams by winning percentage and call it a day as there's nothing fair about how the season ended but what's fair is taking the teams that had the best winning percentage of the season to it's date of closure. This current 24 team format isn't remotely close to fair for the teams that were the best over the regular season.

[monkeyman]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I agree with everything else, but as others have pointed out this last bit is probably not worth any consideration. The players and teams won't care about where they play so long as they are playing, and the conditions are up to NHL standards. Fans won't care where they are playing, because the inside of an empty arena looks like the inside of every other arena. Even in the event players are holed-up in Edmonton for days or weeks, it's not like they will be navigating the culture of Edmonton; they will spend all their days between hotels, practice facilities, and the arena on game-days. If anything, Edmonton might make the most sense just by virtue of the fact that it's desolation provides for a much more easily controlled environment, with fewer potential distractions.

Pierre McGuire disagrees with you, it does matter to the players.
They also talk about the positives of playing in Edmonton.

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/ottawa-1200...ated-1.1478119

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by monkeyman

Pierre McGuire disagrees with you, it does matter to the players.
They also talk about the positives of playing in Edmonton.

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/ottawa-1200...ated-1.1478119

1. The mall
2. The river valley
3. The mall
4. The river valley
5. The mall
6. The river valley
7. ......

Did I miss anything?

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by monkeyman

Pierre McGuire disagrees with you, it does matter to the players.
They also talk about the positives of playing in Edmonton.

https://www.tsn.ca/radio/ottawa-1200...ated-1.1478119

McGuire seems to think they won't be sequestered.. I'm not so sure about that.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

NHL would have 100% done this too if that gaps were enough between 8-9.

They're picking 24 because the 23/24 placed teams are Montreal and Chicago who essentially had zero chance to make the playoffs but because their both top 5 markets the league wants them in.

This playoff has nothing to do with sport or the Stanley Cup, it's all money baby

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Weitz

McGuire seems to think they won't be sequestered.. I'm not so sure about that.

Yeah, Maguire is just speculating in that interview. And his thoughts about this are entirely contingent upon what the conditions of sequester are going to be for the players.

But this doesn't really address my point at all, which was that "marketability" is not going to mean much of anything in the selection process, especially since players are going to be tightly monitored and quarantined through the whole thing.

[agulati]

The way I look at it, the play-in round is just a way to wrap up the regular season. Playoffs start from “Round 2”. Why are there not 31 teams? It is not fair to have teams that have no chance to continue. Why are there 24 teams? Because the math of breaking it down to series works.

[GordonBlue]

I just think Edmonton is still in the running as there would be a better chance of keeping everyone safe from the virus than any American city.

I don't think the players care about the desirability of a city from before Covid. I think many of them just want to play hockey and be safe doing so.

Isn't there a 5 star Marriott hotel attached to the Edmonton arena? That should be good enough for the players, I'm sure.