NHL 2019-20 season

I just don't think the playoffs will happen this season. With the chance looking more and more doubtful, are we ready to proclaim the Boston Bruins as the NHL champs for 2019-2020? They have a 6-point lead over the next best team (the Blues) and were the only team that had lost 15 or fewer games.

 

Jim. I don't see any names getting etched onto the Cup for 2019-2020.

 

Bob. Bet you a dollar they just give up on 2019-20 season. I hope you are right, though.

 

If they're going to play in July, they need to find rinks that have real good air-conditioning!

 

Frankly, I think that 24 teams is too many; 12 or 16 would make more sense with a tight schedule. I think a team lower than that is highly unlikely to win, anyway.

 

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If they start a junior team, will it be called the Bronze Knights?

 

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Reports Indicate Las Vegas Likely to Serve as an NHL Playoff Hub, Announcement Coming Soon

It appears the NHL has found one of the hub cities it will use to resume play.


T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas may soon host the Vegas Golden Knights and 11 other teams, if reports are accurate that the NHL will pick the city as one of two hubs to resume play. (Image: NHL.com)

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Friday that MGM Resorts International is keeping some of its properties free for the professional hockey league. The NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights play their games at T-Mobile Arena, which the gaming company co-owns.

The likely MGM properties in play for the NHL are the Vdara, Delano, and the Mirage. Since the NHL wants non-smoking, non-gaming venues, that would likely make the Vdara and Delano the top choices, the Review-Journal reported.

Other entities say Vegas is a shoo-in for one of the two cities the league will select. Sportsnet.ca reported Friday the league will likely make that announcement in less than 10 days.

While some teams have already started voluntary workouts, the league and players union announced Thursday that formal training camps won’t start until July 10. While the joint statement did not give a date for when play would resume, many expect games to start late next month.

Under the plan approved by both the teams and players, 24 teams will head to two hub cities. The 12 Western Conference teams will head to one hub, with the Eastern Conference teams going to the other. The bottom eight teams in each conference will be paired off in best-of-five-game series to determine the final four playoff teams, while the top four squads will play each other in a round-robin format to determine the order of the top seeds.

From there, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will begin in the hubs, with each round in the traditional best-of-seven format.

Home-Ice Advantage? Probably Not
When the league announced its plan to resume play, it revealed a list of 10 cities under consideration to be a hub. Besides Vegas, the other cities vying to host teams include Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Vancouver.

Besides ample hotel rooms, the league is also looking for multiple places to play games since there could be three or more games played in each city every day, at least when play first resumes. In Vegas, that would mean the Golden Knights practice arena would likely be used as well.

If Vegas ends up getting picked, its not a guarantee that the Golden Knights will end up playing at home. The NHL may select two western cities as hubs.

We’re not hung up on east‑west,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said last month when announcing the plan to resume play. “For TV scheduling, it may be better if we’re in different time zones, but we’re going to go to the places that we think are the safest and make the most sense medically at the time.”

And even if the NHL houses the Western Conference teams in Sin City, it won’t give the Golden Knights that much home-ice advantage. No fans will be allowed at the games.

In addition, all teams will have to stay at the hub hotels in an effort to keep players from catching the coronavirus that caused the league – and every other active major US sport – to stop play in mid-March.

“If a team happens to be in its own market, the players I don’t think should be planning on going home,” Bettman said. “They’ll be staying in the same conditions that everybody else is.”

Wide-Open Race for the Cup
Unlike the NBA, which is considered a three-team race for the championship, the Stanley Cup Playoffs are considered a wide-open affair. Honestly, that could have been said regardless of circumstances. Last year, favorite Tampa Bay bowed out in a four-game first-round sweep. If a goalie gets hot, he can lead a lower-seeded team to a deep run in the playoffs.

Oddsmakers have pretty much identified seven teams that they believe are the likeliest Cup contenders. Here’s a list of where the best odds can be found on each team:

Boston Bruins – +650 (DraftKings)
Tampa Bay Lightning – +650 (DraftKings, William Hill)
Vegas Golden Knights – +850 (FanDuel, BetMGM)
Colorado Avalanche – +850 (William Hill)
St. Louis Blues – +1100 (FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM)
Washington Capitals – +1100 (Caesars)
Philadelphia Flyers – +1200 (William Hill)

 

NHL Reportedly Shuns Las Vegas as Toronto, Edmonton Tabbed as Hub Cities

While there are still some issues left to be resolved between the NHL and its players’ union, it appears all signs are still pointing toward resuming play later this month.


The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas appears to be eliminated from consideration as an NHL hub site when play resumes later this month. (Image: NHL.com)
Unfortunately, those same reports have Las Vegas on the outside looking in. Earlier this week, TSN hockey reporter Bob McKenzie revealed the league had selected Toronto and Edmonton for its two hubs.

Under the plan, 24 teams would travel to a hub, 12 to each, and resume play. Those teams are divided equally by conference. It not known what conference teams would go where, but Toronto, home to the Maple Leafs, is an Eastern Conference city. The Edmonton Oilers play in the Western.

The bottom eight teams would be paired off against each other and play in best-of-five series to determine the final four teams to make the Stanley Cup playoffs. The top four teams would play each other in a round-robin series to determine the seeding order. From there, the playoffs would start in their usual best-of-seven format.

Once the playoffs get down to the conference finals, all games reportedly would take place in Edmonton, including the Stanley Cup Final. All games, for now, would not be played in front of fans.

COVID Spike Spikes Vegas Hub Hopes
When the NHL announced its plan to resume play in May, it listed 10 cities as candidates for hubs, where the players would stay in isolated hotels and travel together to rinks for practices and games.

Las Vegas was on the list, and it seemed that from then on it was a favorite to become a hub. Not only had the city quickly embraced the sport since the Golden Knights started play two seasons ago, the city seemingly had all the hotel rooms the league would need thanks to the Las Vegas Strip resorts.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal even reported that MGM Resorts International, which co-owns T-Mobile Arena where the Golden Knights play, was even holding off on reopening some resorts to accommodate the league.

So, what happened?

According to information from the Southern Nevada Health District, Clark County – home to Las Vegas – had a seven-day rolling average of about 316 new COVID-19 cases on June 21. From June 22-27, a six-day span, the county recorded 4,047 new cases. That sent the seven-day rolling average to more than 605 cases reported daily.

Suddenly, the cases spiked in Vegas,” McKenzie said on TSN.com. “There were public health concerns in Las Vegas. Vegas was out, Edmonton was back in.”

Those high numbers continued into this week, with the district reporting 848 new cases in the Vegas area on Friday.

In an email responding to questions from Casino.org, an MGM Resorts spokesperson said they were not aware of the NHL’s plans and referred questions to the league.

All Contingent on COVID
While the league and players appear ready to give their final approvals on moving forward, it is still contingent on keeping players healthy.

CUP CONTENDERS
A look at the top teams favored to win the Stanley Cup and their current odds at various sportsbooks and sports betting applications.

DraftKings: Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning +650, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights +800
FanDuel: Boston, Tampa Bay +600, Colorado +800, Vegas +850
PointsBet: Tampa Bay +600, Boston +625, Colorado +825, Vegas +850
William Hill: Boston +550, Vegas +600, Tampa Bay +650, Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues +800
Caesars: Tampa Bay +550, Boston, Vegas +600, Colorado +800
BetRivers: Boston, Tampa Bay +650, Colorado, Vegas +800
Circa Sports: Boston +595, Vegas, Colorado +745, Tampa Bay +785

On Friday, the St. Louis Blues, the defending Stanley Cup champions, canceled practice Friday after multiple players tested positive for the virus, according to The Athletic.

That news comes on the heels three players from the Tampa Bay Lightning, a favorite to win the Cup this year, tested positive two weeks ago. In addition, the league has reported that 26 players have tested positive. That includes 15 who began taking part in team activities in June.

While teams are currently holding small group practices and workouts, they are expected to begin opening training camps by next Friday.

It remains to be seen what would happen in an outbreak hit a team or teams during training camps or when play resumes.

 

NHL, players' union reach tentative agreement on return-to-play plan, CBA extension

The NHL and the NHL Players' Association have reached a tentative agreement on a return-to-play plan to restart the 2019-20 season and a memorandum of understanding that adds another four years to the term of the current collective bargaining agreement.

The next step in the process is the voting. The NHL board of governors must approve the agreements. Once the NHLPA's executive committee (one player rep from each of the 31 teams) gives the package its approval, the agreement moves forward to a full-membership vote.

The return-to-play plan includes rules and requirements for Phases 3 and 4 of the season restart after the NHL paused on March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Phase 3 is the opening of training camps, which is scheduled for July 13 in individual cities, as well as traveling to hub cities on July 26 for additional training and exhibition games. According to the plan, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN on Sunday, Eastern Conference teams will play in Toronto and Western Conference teams in Edmonton. The conference finals and Stanley Cup Final will be held in Edmonton.

Phase 4 is the restart of the season in those hub cities with a 24-team postseason tournament. The qualification round of five-game series for Nos. 5-12 seeds in each conference is scheduled to begin Aug. 1.

The return-to-play plan includes testing protocol and explains how positive tests will be addressed; outlines social distancing requirements inside training facilities and the hub cities; specifies who can participate in the hub cities; defines life inside the bubbles; states when families can rejoin players; and spells out what happens if positive tests are too numerous to continue play.

If players decide not to participate in the restart, they can opt out with no questions asked within a three-day window after the full-member vote ratifies the new CBA.

The current CBA was due to expire in September 2022. The new CBA would overwrite the agreement for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons and add another four seasons.

According to sources, the new CBA calls for a flat salary cap of $81.5 million for next season, where it will remain until league hockey-related revenues reach $4.8 billion, which was the amount projected for this season before it was paused; a one-time, 10% salary deferral by the players next season, paid back over the course of three seasons beginning in 2022-23; capped escrow withholdings each season, starting at 20% next season to make up the revenue shortfall for owners, before falling to 6% in the last year of the deal; and a return to the Winter Olympics in 2022 and 2026, pending a deal between the NHL and the International Olympic Committee.

The new CBA was seen as a critical aspect of the return-to-play plan due to the economic uncertainty from the COVID-19 shutdown and its impact on next season's revenue. The CBA will cover revenue generated by the NHL's next U.S. broadcast contract and by the highly anticipated Seattle expansion team, which is set to begin play in 2021-22.

 

Bill Daly @23:30

 

welcome the Kraken!

https://www.seattlekrakenhockey.com/

and their fans, the Krakheads.

they'll play at the Krak House

someone didn't think this through

 

oh brother. only way to make it worse "The Golden Kraken"