[Rumour] NHL/NHLPA to extend season shorten preseason

[Sylvanfan]

With 32 teams you get a balanced schedule if you go to 84 games. Main Training camps should be smaller. Like 56 players max for your contracts, 5 higher end junior prospects who emerge from the prospect camp that opens before main camp and some tryouts/AHL only contracts. 6 exhibition games where the first two are mostly non NHL guys. Cut down to 36 players. 2 more games with a mix of vets with those players. Cut to 30 max, 2 more games. Final roster. Do it in three weeks so season starts early October and is done earlier in June. Season should not run till mid April.

Junior seasons seem to start early so unless it's a top 5 type player who will get some regular season games in, it should be set up so those guys are back in Junior for the start of the season.

[D as in David]

Reduce the number of preseason games? And delegitimize the preseason winner banner? The Oilers say no!

[Ped]

The NHL did have 84 game seasons before - and they also had games in neutral sites, at the time, iirc.

[Kipper_3434]

Cut reg season games, and add a draft tournament to determine draft order for the non-playoff teams. Will keep revenue balanced and eliminate tanking.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Ped

The NHL did have 84 game seasons before - and they also had games in neutral sites, at the time, iirc.

Yes, each team played 2 per season. I think the Flames were in the first one in 92-93 in Saskatoon.

October 13/92 a 4-3 win against the Minnesota North Stars. Only 8700 Saskers came out...it wasn't the Oilers....

[FanIn80]

'89 season was 21 teams, 80 games and ran from October 6, 1988 - May 25, 1989.

Last season was 32 teams, 82 games and ran from October 10, 2023 - June 24, 2024


(There's no point to this post, other than just factually comparing two seasonal timelines.)

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

'89 season was 21 teams, 80 games and ran from October 6, 1988 - May 25, 1989.

Last season was 32 teams, 82 games and ran from October 10, 2023 - June 24, 2024


(There's no point to this post, other than just factually comparing two seasonal timelines.)

I think 89 is the last year where the playoffs opened with 4 games in the first 5 days. Teams played back to back at home, travel day than 2 more in a row. After that they added at least one off day between games.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

I think 89 is the last year where the playoffs opened with 4 games in the first 5 days. Teams played back to back at home, travel day than 2 more in a row. After that they added at least one off day between games.

Yeah used to be two back-to-back games, one travel day, two back-to-back games, one travel day, game 6, one travel day, game 7. Now I think it's one extra day to each segment... so a day between games and two days for travel.

From a series being 7 games in 9 days to now being 7 games in 13 or 14 days (sometimes they have only one travel day before game 7).

Kinda feels like we went from one extreme to the other. I like the idea of travel days being equal to the number of back-to-backs preceding it. So, back-to-backs, two for travel, back-to-backs, two for travel, game 6, one for travel, game 7.


Edit: The one thing they absolutely HAVE to get rid of is the second week off before the final. I don't care how tired the Oilers/Knights/Leafs(lol!)/other-League-protected-teams are. There's never a good reason for making people wait two weeks from end of the third round to the start of the fourth.

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Kipper_3434

Cut reg season games, and add a draft tournament to determine draft order for the non-playoff teams. Will keep revenue balanced and eliminate tanking.

I've been saying this for years. 9 and 10 in each conference play a 3 game series. The winners play each other and the losers play each other. If you finish DFL you draft 5th.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

I've been saying this for years. 9 and 10 in each conference play a 3 game series. The winners play each other and the losers play each other. If you finish DFL you draft 5th.

This might be the dumbest idea I’ve ever seen proposed . And that’s saying a lot on this board

[DoubleK]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

This might be the dumbest idea I’ve ever seen proposed . And that’s saying a lot on this board

Cool cool. I'll let David Amber know you think he's dumb.

[Fischy13]

I really hope they add the extra games to the beginning of the season when we start slow, instead of end of season and we win 2 extra games to take us out of a better draft pick (green text)

[MrMike]

Start training camp and preseason after Labour Day, have the season the last week before October, and end the playoffs before May long weekend

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

Yeah used to be two back-to-back games, one travel day, two back-to-back games, one travel day, game 6, one travel day, game 7. Now I think it's one extra day to each segment... so a day between games and two days for travel.

From a series being 7 games in 9 days to now being 7 games in 13 or 14 days (sometimes they have only one travel day before game 7).

Kinda feels like we went from one extreme to the other. I like the idea of travel days being equal to the number of back-to-backs preceding it. So, back-to-backs, two for travel, back-to-backs, two for travel, game 6, one for travel, game 7.


Edit: The one thing they absolutely HAVE to get rid of is the second week off before the final. I don't care how tired the Oilers/Knights/Leafs(lol!)/other-League-protected-teams are. There's never a good reason for making people wait two weeks from end of the third round to the start of the fourth.

Oilers beat the Stars on June 2....SC final started June 8.

So i agree the break is too long, but it isnt even 1 week, nevermind 2.

[zukes]

Honestly, while the weather is still good for most of the country, everyone is mostly out of summer mode by Labour Day. Why not start the season on Labour Day Monday? That means the playoffs can easily be done by May long weekend, the unofficial start to summer.

Never mind, that makes too much sense.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I just wish they would be underway by the first of October. Pushing the season back to the middle of the second week of October is ridiculous.

Sent from my SM-G986W using Tapatalk

U.S. owners don’t like the NHL competing simultaneously with MLB and the NFL.

[D as in David]

Was the NHL lining up last year's final with the NBA finals? Scheduling games on the NBA's off days or am I misremembering?

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by dino7c

this is never happening

I would rather have more regular season and less preseason over what we have currently. Preseason is ridiculous at full price...we are all watching the games anyway they might as well count.

Lengthen the regular season is a joke though. The amount of games where teams are visibly just slogging through is already at a high, and the product would be much better in general with a few more rest days worked into the schedule than less.

It will never happen, but a season with 72 games would be fantastic in the sense that you could avoid those absolute death road trips and minimize the back to backs to be nearly non-existent. Players would have so much more juice and be less burnt out off the playoffs.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by D as in David

Was the NHL lining up last year's final with the NBA finals? Scheduling games on the NBA's off days or am I misremembering?

The NBA finals always run the same schedule. I believe its the first week of June.

They always go Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday, Friday, Monday, Thursday and Sunday.

I don't think the NHL has ever had a set schedule, and this years finals is the first I remember that they got a 2 day break between switching cities. Could be wrong.

The NBA used to run the 2-3-2 format for the Finals, but I am not sure if the days worked the same.

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by Hot_Flatus

Lengthen the regular season is a joke though. The amount of games where teams are visibly just slogging through is already at a high, and the product would be much better in general with a few more rest days worked into the schedule than less.

It will never happen, but a season with 72 games would be fantastic in the sense that you could avoid those absolute death road trips and minimize the back to backs to be nearly non-existent. Players would have so much more juice and be less burnt out off the playoffs.

Tired teams and players make more mistakes, and more mistakes lead to more goals.

There is no perfect # of games for a regular season. 72 games could make the games much worse, and teams try to stifle each other with less games to get points in.