With the off-season all but wrapped up, the NHL and its 31 organizations are gradually turning their attention to the season ahead.
As the NHL proved early on and as leagues continue to demonstrate around the world, it is possible to continue with pro sports under these challenging circumstances. The approaches vary but it’s clearly no longer a question of if but rather how. As in, how can we make it work?
Even without fans in the building, there’s too much money involved to shut down entirely and as we’ve learned over the last few months, sports will find a way.
And while there is still plenty of uncertainty when it comes to exactly what the season may look like, word is individual clubs are in the process of planning for the year ahead.
Timing is obviously the biggest issue to be worked out. The league has yet to announce anything official but it does sound like teams are working towards a January 1st start date.
Keep in mind the league has already confirmed that the seven teams that missed the playoffs will get a chance at an extended Training Camp too.
The format is another unanswered question.
There has been plenty of talk about an all-Canadian division and with the ongoing uncertainty over the Canada/USA border, that seems to be the most likely scenario.
Here’s Bill Daly on that possibility…
“Obviously, it factors into how we have to plan for the 2020-21 season. And it will factor in. If it remains exceedingly difficult to travel teams to and from Canada, as I think we’ve been very clear, one possibility is to create competition within the league among the Canadian clubs.”
Rumour has teams have been told to expect a 50-game season, which for Ottawa would apparently include eight games against each of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg and then nine against Montreal and Toronto.
Where the are actually played is another issue clubs have started to plan for internally. While a bubble city is still a possibility to start the season, the Senators are also preparing for a scenario where games are played at the Canadian Tire Centre in front of a small number of fans. Around 10% of capacity apparently. Which in the case of the CTC is a little under 2,000 people.
It’s worth noting that is quite a bit less than what Eugene Melnyk suggested was a possibility in that Financial Post article published a little less than a month ago. At the time, the Sens Owner said with 6,000 fans and modest food and beverage sales, the Senators could “be a break-even operation.”
There’s clearly a lot of work left to do, details to be sorted out and questions that need answering but the good news is in Ottawa and around the league, teams are actively planning for the 2021 NHL season.
And it might be only…53 days away…
