Yesterday, I watched multiple UFC fights.
At one point, I think I was watching a KHL game? Then, in a moment of desperation, I spent some time viewing a Twitch stream of a highly anticipated ESports match-up in something called Flashpoint. I may have bet on it. These are truly desperate times.
Sports is one of those things we take for granted in our lives.
Sure there are high points and low points but one of the best things about sports is it’s always there. Until it’s just…not.
Because I don’t want to watch ESports anymore and because frankly, it’s sort of hard to keep track of what day it is- here’s Monday News and Notes. On Sunday. And without any substantive news or notes.
-Yesterday, the ECHL was the first league to take the next step and completely cancel their season and playoffs. Same thing for the SHL this morning. To this point, all the major sports leagues are labelling it a pause but this is a good reminder that at some point, the NHL and the NBA may have to consider the possibility of a complete cancellation. An entirely lost season. Neither league has used that kind of language to this point and both seem fairly optimistic they’ll be able to return but the reality is, nobody knows for sure.
-Still no details on how the league plans to handle to impending Draft Lottery. It’s sort of impossible to make a decision on that front until the league knows what will become of the regular season so it’s unlikely we’ll hear anything in the next couple weeks. It’s pretty safe to assume that the original April 9th date is out the window though. In just about every scenario currently being discussed by media and fans (freeze standings where they are, use points percentage, rewind to the 68 game mark) the Senators will find themselves in a similar position. It just means we’ll have to wait a bit longer. Not sure I was ready anyway.
-One of the topics drawing a ton of attention from the hockey world in the last couple days is how league owners plan to support their full and part-time employees during this period of uncertainty. It’s an issue just about every business is grappling with right now only in the case of pro sports teams, it’s happening in a much more public way. As of last night, it seemed like about half of the NHL teams had made some sort of public statement about how they intend to support employees during this time. Nothing from the Ottawa Senators yet. It’s worth noting that some of the part-time food and beverage staff that work Sens games are employees of Aramark.
-As we continue our walk down memory lane, we now find ourselves well into the 1992-1993 regular season. It’s Ottawa’s first year in the league and after a dream-like start against the Montreal Canadiens, reality is setting in for the expansion Senators. And it isn’t pretty. The Sens have dropped 37 straight on the road and the finger pointing has begun.
The good ol’ days?
