NHL start on Jan. 1 less likely
This week could be crucial in determining direction of upcoming hockey season
The calendar has turned to December and there's still no start date for the 2020-21 NHL season.
The longer the stalemate between the NHL and NHL Players' Association continues, the chances are less likely we'll see the Ottawa Senators back on the ice at Canadian Tire Centre by Jan. 1.
While some players from overseas and the United States have been arriving in town to get their mandatory 14-day quarantine done so they can skate with teammates, it sounds like the NHL is ready to push back its start date since there's no agreement in place and American Thanksgiving has come and gone.
TSN's Darren Dreger noted Monday it sounds like the league is thinking training camps won't open until after Jan. 1.
“This week may very well produce a timeline for the start of the 2020-21 NHL season,” Dreger tweeted. “Postponing training camps until after the holidays has to be considered. COVID-19 is still in charge.”
If that's the case, a late January or early February start makes more sense.
The league still has to figure out how everything will work financially before setting a starting date. But as the spread of COVID-19 continues to rage in Canada and the U.S., it doesn't feel like the situation will get better soon enough to allow fans into the rinks when the NHL does come back.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman didn't feel that would be the case when he negotiated the extension to the collective bargaining agreement in the summer. But with the possibility of starting the season with empty arenas in most markets, the league is looking for another US$300 million in savings from the players.
The only way Bettman and the governors feel they can do that is by getting the players to raise the escrow from 20 to 25 per cent this season and more in the final three years of the deal. The NHL also wants players to defer more of their salaries — payable over three seasons — after they agreed to 10 per cent in the summer.
As noted, the players can kick the can down the road on escrow — and they have every right to do that — but if they don't pay it now, they'll likely have to surrender some cash in the later years of the deal.
The players have balked at these changes but from all we've heard they want to play, so at some point NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr and Bettman will have to find a path to an agreement. Respected broadcaster John Shannon noted Monday both sides continued discussions but haven't made any progress.
The players are standing their ground on not changing the agreement and the NHL is holding its position that it can't start the season until it has the right economics in place.
There are a lot of owners who would rather sit out this season than open the doors to empty buildings. Ticket sales account for at least 45 per cent of their annual revenues. That doesn't even include other revenues generated in the rink like signage, rink boards, scoreboard advertising, food, beverages and parking.
If buildings don't have fans, advertisers won't want to pony up. And this is just one of many realities NHL owners are facing. While there are some places in the U.S. that will allow fans into buildings, that's not going to be the case in Canada anytime soon.
It's a big reason Senators owner Eugene Melnyk backs the idea of having a rapid test available that would allow those cleared to have an application on their phone that would say they've tested negative. The Senators have already done modelling around having 6,000 people in the stands seated at proper distances.
So the waiting will continue and everybody is trying to keep this situation in perspective.
“We're in a fortunate position, one that we've worked hard for our whole lives to get to play in the NHL, and at this time
I'm more concerned about the health and safety of a lot of people,” Ottawa defenceman Erik Gudbranson said last week. “I do want to play hockey but as much as I do, it's hard not to think of other people in worse situations.
“So that keeps a pretty even balance when it comes to looking at not playing right now.”
OFF TO WORLD JUNIORS
Defenceman Jake Sanderson, the Senators' No. 5 overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft, was named to the American team for the world junior championship, set for Dec. 25-Jan. 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta.
Sanderson, who will start his first season with the University of North Dakota on Wednesday, was among 29 players named to the preliminary roster. Camp begins Sunday in Plymouth, Mich.
North Dakota coach Brad Berry has been impressed with Sanderson.
“We haven't played a game but he's trending in the right direction of playing a significant role on our team,” Berry told reporters last week. “What I really like about Jake is his humility and his hard-working blue-collar approach.
“Getting drafted pretty high in the first round comes with a lot of stuff, but he's one guy that doesn't have an ego. He's all about getting better each and every day.”