May NHL News

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SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
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Oct 25, 2007
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Between here and everywhere.
And - he's done as a member of the Capitals.

View: https://twitter.com/CapitalsPR/status/1258773185966850054?s=20


https://russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2020/05/08/report-capitals-planning-to-cut-brendan-leipsic-today/?fbclid=IwAR1lp3D1BevaNyyDw5ft75raaCKbr4NrpV3mw0Z90g7xJ3z5VL3n4sJ6IgU

Hard to see him picking up with another team this season, and even next season will be a challenge for him. Players are unlikely to want to share a locker room with him, and opposing teams would be targeting him every time he's on the ice.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Oct 31, 2013
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NFL is pretending nothing is different
MLB has a 1/2 season plan that players need to agree, probably with no fans
NBA has started practice in some cities, and has the best commissioner in the major sports who has stated he wants to restart only if safe, and there are talks to move the next season to December to allow time to end this one


Any news from NHL on restarting? They've been the quietest league, but they probably need the in game fan revenue (tickets + concessions + jerseys) more than the other leagues.
 

RedOctober3829

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Jul 19, 2005
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deep inside Guido territory
Could this be the week we have tangible NHL announcements?
The NHL-NHLPA Return to Play committee talked throughout the weekend, sources said Sunday, with more talks expected over the next day or two.
While there remains work to be done, and nobody involved is ready to say 100 percent where this is headed, sources confirm progress was made this weekend on a 24-team format for return to play.
I’m told the proposed 24-team format doesn’t go straight to the playoffs but involves games in some form before-hand. That would be something the players would have pushed for. Again, let me stress that both sides on the committee as of Sunday morning still had work to do on the format so it may yet change again.
But there’s a clear sense that both sides are closer on what a season resumption may look like.
https://theathletic.com/1819285/2020/05/17/lebrun-nhl-making-progress-on-24-team-format-sources-say/
 

cshea

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Burnside has some details on the 24-team plan.

- The bottom 7 teams won’t come back to play.
- 6 team divisions playing out of one host city. A team cannot play in their home city. So if Toronto was a host city, the Leafs and the Atlantic would play somewhere else.
- Teams play 1 game against each of their division opponents to finish up the regular season. Points percentage for the season plus this round robin would determine the standings.
- After the round robin, the 2 top teams in each division get a bye. 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5 in a best of 3 series to get down to the traditional 16 team playoff format.
 

The Napkin

wise ass al kaprielian
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right here
Burnside has some details on the 24-team plan.

- The bottom 7 teams won’t come back to play.
- 6 team divisions playing out of one host city. A team cannot play in their home city. So if Toronto was a host city, the Leafs and the Atlantic would play somewhere else.
- Teams play 1 game against each of their division opponents to finish up the regular season. Points percentage for the season plus this round robin would determine the standings.
- After the round robin, the 2 top teams in each division get a bye. 3 plays 6 and 4 plays 5 in a best of 3 series to get down to the traditional 16 team playoff format.
Gotta try to find a way to make sure Chicago and Montreal get in, eh? 85% of the season just isn't enough of a sample size.
 

Vegas Sox Fan

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Biggest problem I see is practice. Is there enough ice for 12 teams to practice?
Good point. There's the practice facility in Summerlin but other than that I think there may be one or two at most rinks that could accommodate.

Unfortunately the new AHL franchise practice facility was set to open 10/1 and the new AHL arena is set to break ground very soon.
 

NYCSox

chris hansen of goats
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Gotta try to find a way to make sure Chicago and Montreal get in, eh? 85% of the season just isn't enough of a sample size.
I'm sure being teams 23 and 24 in the standings is purely a coincidence. :)

Edit: It would make more sense IMO to add two more WCs in each conference for a total of four and have them play each other in a single game format to settle on WC1 and WC2. The only team that gets harmed in that scenario is one of the five EC contenders (Montreal is well behind the pack). In the WC you have four teams clearly ahead of AZ and Chicago so no one is harmed.
 
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cshea

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I’m actually OK with this 24-team plan. It is not ideal, but it never was going to be. I understand the desire to recoup whatever revenue they can and including Montreal and Chicago is one way to help bring in a few extra dollars.

From a Bruins perspective, I think it’s as good as we could’ve hoped. They’ll play 5 games, then rest while the play-in 3- game series play out. From there it’s the “normal“ playoffs. They may even catch a break with something fluky like Montreal knocking off Toronto in the play-in series and the Bruins end up with the 12th team in the conference in the first round. The real losers are the teams like Toronto and especially whoever winds up third in the Washington/Philly/Pittsburgh battle in the Metro. They all have like 95+% playoff chances but the 3rd place team would have to play that 3 gamer just to get in.

Edit: Under the current plan, with the standings remaining as is, the play-in series would be:

Atlantic: Toronto/Montreal and Florida/NYR
Metro: Pittsburgh/CBJ and Carolina/NYI
Central: Dallas/Chicago and Nashville/Winnipeg
Pacific: Vancouver/Arizona and Calgary/Minnesota
 
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RedOctober3829

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More talk on the 24-team tournament, but a bracketed setup.
As the “Return to Play” Committee continues to negotiate various NHL playoff scenarios, multiple sources indicate the NHL and NHLPA are working on a 24-team conference-based playoff setup.

Let’s be clear: nothing is set in stone. The teams and players must still approve it, but discussions on the proposal could happen as soon as Thursday.


The top four seeds (based on points percentage) in the East would be Boston, Tampa Bay, Washington and Philadelphia. Top four in the West would be St. Louis, Colorado, Vegas and Dallas.

They would receive byes through the play-in, but participate in a three-game tournament to get some action. I confess I’m not certain of all the details on if or how it would affect playoff seeding.

The rest of the playoffs would be “bracketed.” That means, in both conferences 5 vs. 12 (winner plays four seed), 6 vs. 11 (winner plays three seed), 7 vs. 10 (winner plays two seed) and 8 vs. 9 (winner plays one seed).
https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-nhlpa-working-24-team-conference-based-playoff-setup/Based on point percentage, these matchups would be if the seeds are set before the 3 games. There is still a race for 4th between Pittsburgh and Philly and most of the lower seeds could change in the East as 6 through 11 are separated currently by 3 points. Buffalo and NJ are only 3 points behind Montreal as well.

East
Play-In Round
8. Toronto vs. 9. Columbus (winner plays 1. Boston)
7. NY Islanders vs. 10. Florida (winner plays 2. Tampa)
6. Carolina vs. 11. NY Rangers(winner plays 3. Washington)
5. Pittsburgh vs. 12. Montreal(winner plays 4. Philly)

In the West, Edmonton/Dallas/Winnipeg are right on each other's heels in the race for the last bye while 4 through 10 are separated by 6 points.

West
Play-In Round
8. Nashville vs. 9 Vancouver(winner plays 1. STL)
7. Winnipeg vs. 10 Minnesota(winner plays 2. Colorado)
6. Calgary vs. 11. Arizona(winner plays 3. Vegas)
5. Edmonton vs. 12. Chicago(winner plays 4. Dallas)
 
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LogansDad

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Nov 15, 2006
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This is likely to be an unpopular opinion, but I kind of want them to just call it off. Let the players take the summer to get healthy, do their regular off-season routine, and come back ready to go in the fall (assuming things are opening by then). I know the Bruins were fucking awesome this year, and that sucks, but I'd rather lose the rest of this season, than have some weird playoff and then have next season be a complete shitshow as well.

I know the league needs to recoup money somehow, though, so I can absolutely see why they are so hesitant to just hang it up.
 

cshea

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More talk on the 24-team tournament, but a bracketed setup.


https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/nhl-nhlpa-working-24-team-conference-based-playoff-setup/Based on point percentage, these matchups would be if the seeds are set before the 3 games. There is still a race for 4th between Pittsburgh and Philly and most of the lower seeds could change in the East as 6 through 11 are separated currently by 3 points. Buffalo and NJ are only 3 points behind Montreal as well.

East
Play-In Round
8. Toronto vs. 9. Columbus (winner plays 1. Boston)
7. NY Islanders vs. 10. Florida (winner plays 2. Tampa)
6. Carolina vs. 11. NY Rangers(winner plays 3. Washington)
5. Pittsburgh vs. 12. Montreal(winner plays 4. Philly)

In the West, Edmonton/Dallas/Winnipeg are right on each other's heels in the race for the last bye while 4 through 10 are separated by 6 points.

West
Play-In Round
8. Nashville vs. 9 Vancouver(winner plays 1. STL)
7. Winnipeg vs. 10 Minnesota(winner plays 2. Colorado)
6. Calgary vs. 11. Arizona(winner plays 3. Vegas)
5. Edmonton vs. 12. Chicago(winner plays 4. Dallas)
This would be terrible. They need to re-seed after the play-in.
 

cshea

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Columbus isn’t an easy one either. The break has given them time to rest up. They’re going to get some of their horses back that were previously iffy for the playoffs (and why they were likely going to miss).

I just think the Bruins won the division, conference and likely Presidents trophy.They should be rewarded with the lowest seed after the play-in. If all 12 teams are at the same site, I don’t see why it couldn’t be done. it may be a longshot, but why should Philly get the benefit of playing Montreal if Montreal happened to beat Pittsburgh. Maybe all the top seeds win and it ends up being Toronto or Columbus anyways, but I’d bet good money on at least one of the double digit seeds upsetIng their opponent.
 

burstnbloom

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Jul 12, 2005
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Columbus isn’t an easy one either. The break has given them time to rest up. They’re going to get some of their horses back that were previously iffy for the playoffs (and why they were likely going to miss).

I just think the Bruins won the division, conference and likely Presidents trophy.They should be rewarded with the lowest seed after the play-in. If all 12 teams are at the same site, I don’t see why it couldn’t be done. it may be a longshot, but why should Philly get the benefit of playing Montreal if Montreal happened to beat Pittsburgh. Maybe all the top seeds win and it ends up being Toronto or Columbus anyways, but I’d bet good money on at least one of the double digit seeds upsetIng their opponent.
After a layoff like this, its almost a certainty. Some teams are going to get healthy, others are going to get tweaked in the re-warm up, frankly its pretty likely that at least one team gets sick. I don't think we can have a real idea of what will happen once they start playing again. I hate the idea of the Bruins having a clear inside track at the number 1 seed after 70 games and then having to defend that when it was extremely unlikely that anyone would have caught them had the world not burned down.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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This is likely to be an unpopular opinion, but I kind of want them to just call it off. Let the players take the summer to get healthy, do their regular off-season routine, and come back ready to go in the fall (assuming things are opening by then). I know the Bruins were fucking awesome this year, and that sucks, but I'd rather lose the rest of this season, than have some weird playoff and then have next season be a complete shitshow as well.

I know the league needs to recoup money somehow, though, so I can absolutely see why they are so hesitant to just hang it up.
There’s a good chance next season is a partial shitshow too, in which case you are probably better off figuring out how to do a weird season under bad circumstances now in the event that they have to figure it out again next year.
 

RedOctober3829

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The 2 big issues to me are the reseeding and if the top 4 seeds would change based on the round robin. The Bruins should stay at 1, but 2-3-4 all could change if there's 9 points up for grabs. I also agree that the Bruins should face the worst team left after the play-in round.
 

Dummy Hoy

Angry Pissbum
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Jul 22, 2006
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This is likely to be an unpopular opinion, but I kind of want them to just call it off. Let the players take the summer to get healthy, do their regular off-season routine, and come back ready to go in the fall (assuming things are opening by then). I know the Bruins were fucking awesome this year, and that sucks, but I'd rather lose the rest of this season, than have some weird playoff and then have next season be a complete shitshow as well.

I know the league needs to recoup money somehow, though, so I can absolutely see why they are so hesitant to just hang it up.
I agree with you.
 

Salem's Lot

Andy Moog! Andy God Damn Moog!
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Jul 15, 2005
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Next season is going to start late anyway. They need to get some kind of revenue in in July/August before the second wave hits in October/November. I seriously doubt that next season starts before Christmas. If not, the league could be in serious financial trouble.
 

veritas

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I'm really torn here, the purist in me says you can't give anyone the Stanley Cup without winning four best-of-seven series. That's just not fealible, IMO. They need to get everyone tested and in the same location, then plow through some games in a few weeks and declare a champion.

I can't with a straight face say they should give the best regular season team the cup because of my biases, but that is exactly what I would say any other league should do. I have no emotional investment in the NBA, they should absolutely give Milwaukee the title and start planning how next season could even work.

edit: what I would actually propose would be an 8 team best of three tourney with minimal off days
 
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Salem's Lot

Andy Moog! Andy God Damn Moog!
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I really don’t get all the opposition to this. Who cares if the format produces an “unworthy champion”? If it can be done in a way that’s safe for the people involved, why wouldn’t you want this to happen? You don’t want to watch playoff hockey?
 

TSC

SoSH's Doug Neidermeyer
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Oct 25, 2007
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Between here and everywhere.
I really don’t get all the opposition to this. Who cares if the format produces an “unworthy champion”? If it can be done in a way that’s safe for the people involved, why wouldn’t you want this to happen? You don’t want to watch playoff hockey?
Seriously. They could draw teams from a hat and seed them that way, as long as we get playoff hockey, I'm happy.
 

veritas

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Not sure if you two are replying to me, but my concern is that if they try to do a lengthy normal-ish playoffs (like what is being discussed/proposed), they're going to have to shut it down halfway through.
 
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Salem's Lot

Andy Moog! Andy God Damn Moog!
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Jul 15, 2005
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Gallows Hill
Not sure if you two are replying to me, but my concern is that if they try to do a lengthy normal-ish playoffs (like what is being discussed/proposed), they're going to half to shut it down halfway through.
I wasn’t specifically replying to your post, more about the comments that I’ve read on different platforms that I would say are about 70% negative about the proposed playoff system. I just don’t get it.

And again that assumes that they are confident that they can get it done without getting people sick. If you’re not as confident as the league is that they can get through this without people getting sick, then I completely understand your issue with it.
 

SemperFidelisSox

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Everyone will remember who won the Covid Cup. Taking a 3 month break in the middle of the season and then coming back and winning a 24 team tournament will be an incredible accomplishment for the last team standing. Fans are talking about asterisks or just outright canceling the season to protect the integrity of the playoffs and Stanley Cup, but I’d be thrilled to see the Bruins win it all under these circumstances.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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I'm really torn here, the purist in me says you can't give anyone the Stanley Cup without winning four best-of-seven series. That's just not fealible, IMO. They need to get everyone tested and in the same location, then plow through some games in a few weeks and declare a champion.
For many decades it only required 2 4 out of 7 series, and then 3. Those titles seem to satisfy most folks
 

cshea

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Phase 2 of the return to play plan is starting in early June. That is players being able to return to their NHL city and begin working out and skating in team facilities. Players only, no coaches. 6 players at a time. Masks in the facilities at all times except when they are actually working out/skating.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
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Lightning voted against the new playoff format. Not sure if it means anything if they're the only ones though.
 

cshea

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Top 12 by points percentage in each conference are in.

2 hub cities

Teams allowed to bring up to 50 team personnel.
 

cshea

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That's fucking garbage. So those 70 games meant nothing? What the fuck is wrong with this league?
There has to be more details than this. I can’t believe they’d just play 3 games and have the Bruins go from 1-4. That can’t be this dumb.