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

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by Rejean31

As much as it pains me to say it, I most definitely think that if this goes ahead, Edmonton will be named a hub city.

No wonder they're being given such a cushy bracket to the final 8..

[dino7c]

Sounds like the top four teams would also be playing for seeding. Christ let them pick their opponent that would make for some story lines.

[blender]

Man, some of the hand-wringing in this thread is classic CP GT worthy! We've all been cooped up too long.
If I get to watch some hockey soon that hasn't been played already I will be doing all right.

As for the inequity of the proposed system, what can you do? There is always a reason to complain and life isn't fair. As one poster mentioned earlier, Flames would have been certain conference finalists for a decade if there was a different playoff system.

I actually like the Flames chances here, but hey, I always do (or at least I want to).

[Crown Royal]

Originally Posted by jayswin

For me the only thing that would ruin the integrity of a Cup win in an altered format would be if there is any covid outbreaks leading to teams moving on due to star players being out on defeated teams. Or just a bunch of players missing significant time.

How would a star player or a bunch of players getting covid be any different than a team who loses a star to injury or another for of illness, or has several injuries or a flu bug run through the team? Injuries and illness happen every year in the playoffs and often the winning team is one that not only got hot at the right time but also one of the healthiest. It would be awful for guys to catch it, but the effect on the ice is no different than any other illness or injury

[djsFlames]

Watch the Blackhawks or Coyotes win the whole thing.

[Geeoff]

I wonder if the play-in round will be considered regular season or playoff games. If they are reg season, maybe Neal 21 goals is back on the table?

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

I wonder if the play-in round will be considered regular season or playoff games. If they are reg season, maybe Neal 21 goals is back on the table?

Hmm. That is a really good question.

At first I suspected it would be separate, as you have a lot of teams not playing, so in terms of individual stats and rankings, the idle players have no chance to improve their stats.

Having said that, for the purpose of comparison vs historical stats, I would expect playoff stats should start with the round of 16

The stats from these ‘play in series’ would have to go somewhere

And like you mention, there is the odd commercial situation here or there that may be impacted. Neal certainly is unique in that a transaction is dependent on it, and there may be other contracts out there with performance based bonuses

Interesting, and I hope we get to find out!

[Nufy]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Watch the Blackhawks or Coyotes win the whole thing.

AB E/T...Hopefully C but gotta be realistic...

[keenan87]

Aren't the Oilers always the pre-season champs.. they may have a legit shot here.

[Major Major]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Hmm. That is a really good question.

At first I suspected it would be separate, as you have a lot of teams not playing, so in terms of individual stats and rankings, the idle players have no chance to improve their stats.

Having said that, for the purpose of comparison vs historical stats, I would expect playoff stats should start with the round of 16

The stats from these ‘play in series’ would have to go somewhere

And like you mention, there is the odd commercial situation here or there that may be impacted. Neal certainly is unique in that a transaction is dependent on it, and there may be other contracts out there with performance based bonuses

Interesting, and I hope we get to find out!

Another reason the league might do this is the publicity of giving ovi another chance at 50, assuming the top teams play for seeding.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by keenan87

Aren't the Oilers always the pre-season champs.. they may have a legit shot here.

That's what I'm afraid of. The Oilers seem to alway have a hot start and the Flames sputter out of the gate. This will basically be a new season.

[troutman]

Originally Posted by Geeoff

I wonder if the play-in round will be considered regular season or playoff games. If they are reg season, maybe Neal 21 goals is back on the table?

Interesting, but I don't see how it could be called regular season if only a few teams are eligible for this round.

A number of players could be missing out on possible bonuses, and it would be unfair to give that opportunity to a limited group.

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

Hmm. That is a really good question.

At first I suspected it would be separate, as you have a lot of teams not playing, so in terms of individual stats and rankings, the idle players have no chance to improve their stats.

Having said that, for the purpose of comparison vs historical stats, I would expect playoff stats should start with the round of 16

The stats from these ‘play in series’ would have to go somewhere

And like you mention, there is the odd commercial situation here or there that may be impacted. Neal certainly is unique in that a transaction is dependent on it, and there may be other contracts out there with performance based bonuses

Interesting, and I hope we get to find out!

Also, how would it effect the lottery? Would the teams eliminated in the play-in round get a shot at LaFreniere?

[Vinny01]

One thing that I am optimistic from a Flames standpoint is the likelihood we get early season Rittich as opposed to late season Rittich. David has gotten off to great starts only to see him struggle as the year goes on. With the rest he is feeling fresh and hopefully ready to put up some solid numbers when we get back to it

[kyuss275]

Originally Posted by Vinny01

One thing that I am optimistic from a Flames standpoint is the likelihood we get early season Rittich as opposed to late season Rittich. David has gotten off to great starts only to see him struggle as the year goes on. With the rest he is feeling fresh and hopefully ready to put up some solid numbers when we get back to it

If the schedule is as condensed as some of the rumours say then they are going to need both goalies playing great. Can’t see how you could roll out 1 starter for entire playoff /tournament in condensed schedule.

[troutman]

When the season was interrupted, here were the playoffs odds for each team:

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL.html

Chicago had a 2.6% chance and Montreal was 0.0%.

One problem with using the standings from that point, is that the schedules were not fully balanced. There would have been differences in home/road contests and in strength of schedules remaining. Teams that had a hard remaining schedule benefit, and those that had an easier set of games left lose that benefit. So, the seedings are potentially out of focus, which could result in unfair match-ups.

[keenan87]

Originally Posted by getbak

That's what I'm afraid of. The Oilers seem to alway have a hot start and the Flames sputter out of the gate. This will basically be a new season.

Oilers winning would suck.

As for the Flames, at the end of the day... if they win the cup, great. If not, I really hope there are major changes during the off-season.

I will be pretty annoyed if they somehow make the third round of the playoffs and the GM decides he wants to give the same core of guys another shot next year. I think the previous playoffs and most of this season is a bigger sample size than a modified playoff format.

In other words, the Flames ####ting the bed in the playoffs should not lead to excuses because of the modified circumstances. Every team will be dealing with something similar.

[Strange Brew]

It seems there will be some type of training camp but you'd have to think how players have maintained fitness over the past months will be an important factor.

Flames have been one of the healthiest teams in the league so no big advantage for us in terms of getting injured players back.

But with a little training camp, it would be the perfect time to hire the coach you want. Is there an established coach who lives in Alberta who could be coaxed into coming back for one more shot at glory? You know the kind of coach who is real hard on his guys, someone with a championship pedigree who has taken an 8 seed to playoff glory?

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

It seems there will be some type of training camp but you'd have to think how players have maintained fitness over the past months will be an important factor.

Flames have been one of the healthiest teams in the league so no big advantage for us in terms of getting injured players back.

But with a little training camp, it would be the perfect time to hire the coach you want. Is there an established coach who lives in Alberta who could be coaxed into coming back for one more shot at glory? You know the kind of coach who is real hard on his guys, someone with a championship pedigree who has taken an 8 seed to playoff glory?

If the vote by the PA is a yes, it sounds like players will start making their way to their respective cities by next week and in 10-14 days teams will start training with those allowed too.

Euros/Americans that arent here already will have to quarantine for the full 2 weeks as mandated by the feds. So I suspect you will see full TC's everywhere somewhere around June 14th or so. Games likely to start July 3/4 if everything goes well.

As for coaching....no one is making a change at this point. Moot point.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by transplant99

If the vote by the PA is a yes, it sounds like players will start making their way to their respective cities by next week and in 10-14 days teams will start training with those allowed too.

Euros/Americans that arent here already will have to quarantine for the full 2 weeks as mandated by the feds. So I suspect you will see full TC's everywhere somewhere around June 14th or so. Games likely to start July 3/4 if everything goes well.

As for coaching....no one is making a change at this point. Moot point.

Why so serious?