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A Primer Into The Completion Of The 2019-2020 NHL Season

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By Larry Daniels

It became clear in early March of this year, that Covid-19 would warrant suspension of the National Hockey League season. On March 12th, commissioner Gary Bettman officially suspended league play. The NHL said it made the decision following the NBA suspending its season after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for the coronavirus. “Our goal is to resume play as soon as it is appropriate and prudent, so that we will be able to complete the season and award the Stanley cup,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement.

This is not the first time professional hockey has faced a global pandemic. In the 1918 – 1919 season, the Montreal Canadians faced the Seattle Metropolitans of the PCHA for the Stanley Cup amid the Spanish influenza pandemic. The series was called off after 5 games when numerous players became ill; one, Joe Hall of the Canadians, died a few weeks later.

It is important to note that professional hockey owes its existence to Canada. The rich history of Canadian success in professional and international play including the Olympics, has been well documented for over a century. Many of the sport’s greats were sons of Canada. The first American team to be included was the Boston Bruins in 1924. Expansion went through different iterations before reaching it’s current roster of 31 American and Canadian teams today. The NHL league offices were moved to New York City in 1989.

Welcome to 2020, a point in history where deciding the eventual Stanley Cup champion will restart August 1, for the first time ever. Hockey gets to show everyone what risks a full contact sport will present in the age of coronavirus. The players will be like astronauts on the launching pad, blasting off into the great unknown. Think of megahits along the boards to create turnovers, full speed crashes into corners to maintain possession of the puck, or wrestling forwards and defensemen in front of the goalie. Contact baby, major contact. The notion that helmets do not fly off during play is fictitious. The NHL has addressed concerns about the virus by announcing mandatory testing of all players before each game. Does this alleviate safety concerns? We cannot be entirely sure. The great unknown looms ahead.

The schedule ahead sets up as follows. There will be exhibition games from July 28th to July 30th, just one per team. The qualification round of the postseason finds the top four teams in each conference playing one another in a round-robin. Teams asked for games of focused importance to help them prepare for the later rounds. At stake is playoff seeding, as the current fourth place teams could jump to first place with three wins. The East teams, by seed: (1) Boston Bruins, (2) Tampa Bay Lightning, (3) Washington Capitals, and (4) Philadelphia Flyers. The West teams, by seed: (1) St. Louis Blues, (2) Colorado Avalanche, (3) Las Vegas Golden Knights, and the (4) Dallas Stars.

The rest of the teams are playing best-of-five playoff series for the right to advance to the traditional round of 16 Stanley Cup tournament. The teams in the round robin and the qualification round will be reseeded before the quarterfinals. The four best-of-five series of the qualifiers in the Eastern Conference: (5) Pittsburgh Penguins Vs (12) Montreal Canadiens; (6) Carolina Hurricanes Vs (11) New York Rangers; (7) New York Islanders Vs the (10) Florida Panthers; (8) Toronto Maple Leafs Vs (9) Columbus Blue Jackets.

The four best-of-five series of the qualifiers in the Western Conference: (5) Edmonton Oilers vs (12) Chicago Blackhawks; (6) Nashville predators Vs (11) Arizona Coyotes; (7) Vancouver Canucks vs (10) Minnesota Wild; (8) Calgary Flames vs (9) Winnipeg Jets.

The NHL and the NHL Players Association agreed on the selection of Toronto to be the site of the Eastern Conference playoffs, and Edmonton to be the site for the Western Conference playoffs. This is interesting considering that 24 NHL teams are in the US, and only 7 teams are in Canada. The total number of covid-19 cases in Alberta, Canada currently stands at a little less than 11,000. In Ontario, Canada the total number of cases is a little less than 40,000. The decision from the home office in New York appeared to be made with a concern for the teams’ safety, rather than a nod to profits for the league. Bravo.

There will be no fans in the stands. There could be as many as three games per day in the arenas early on. The 12 teams per conference will be staying at two different hotels in those hub cities, so they’re bound to be running into potential, or current, playoff opponents. The league has established social distancing and safety protocols for players in these particular environments. Check your local listings for games televised in your area. It will be the March Madness of hockey! It all starts August 1st. May these gods of the ice stay protected and safe!

Look for the Stanley Cup Champions to be crowned sometime in October.

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