NHL, union assessing options for new season
The silence is telling.
Despite holding private discussions about options for playing its 2020-21 season, the NHL hasn’t revealed much publicly. Still unanswered are questions about when next season will begin, how long it will last and under what protocols it will played amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
All that’s known currently is that Jan. 1 is a tentative goal for starting the season, which has already been pushed back a month from Dec. 1 and might be delayed again.
“There hasn’t been a lot of conversations, because I don’t think they know anything,” said Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno, who is staying informed through defenseman David Savard, the team’s rep with the NHL Players’ Association.
“I think everyone’s waiting for this election to be over and waiting to see what’s going to happen with the cold/flu season. So, to make any predictions is probably scary for the league, because they don’t want to have to backtrack. For us as players, it’s frustrating because we want to know there’s a season to work toward.”
Teams and their owners also want to know, along with millions of fans.
“I think right now, there’s too many things out of their control, with all the different (state regulations) about travel,” Savard said. “Stuff like that makes it complicated, but they are working on trying to figure out the best scenarios for both sides. The players want to play and I think the owners don’t want to lose a season either.”
A rundown on where things stand:
Negotiations
The NHLPA has formed another return-to-play committee that includes a handful of players, but the new committee has not held talks with the league yet. Instead, NHLPA president Donald Fehr has spoken with NHL commissioner
Gary Bettman and deputy commissioner Bill Daly about potential options.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, the league is scheduled to hold a teleconference with its board of governors Thursday to outline options — including a start date, length of season and format for hosting games.
Hub cities?
The postseason format of strict quarantine “bubbles” in Canada does not appear to be a viable option, since players almost universally feel it was too constraining.
A more likely scenario would be hub cities that have fewer mobility restrictions.
A recent report in The Athletic cited Columbus as a possible U.s.-based hub, while an all-canadian hub might be necessary because of border restrictions on “non-essential” workers trying to enter Canada.
One option floated as a possibility includes a two-weeks-on, one-week-off format where teams commute to the hubs for games.
“In talking to people in the league, I think everybody knows there’s going to be some sacrifice that’s going to be made again,” Foligno said. “It’s just a matter of how much we are willing to live with to make it work.”
Start date
The league would like to begin Jan. 1, but that will likely be determined by how long negotiations take on the new format. Teams that were part of the NHL’S 24-team postseason will likely get about two or three weeks for training camp, while the seven teams that missed out might be granted up to 10 more days.
Play or not play?
Don’t underestimate the impact of not having fans at games because of the pandemic. That lost revenue might even be a dealbreaker for some owners.
“I think the league is gathering as much information from teams and owners as possible, because I’m sure there are some owners that are like, ‘Hey, listen, unless you guarantee me this, this and this, I’m not opening my doors,’ ” Foligno said. “That’s what I worry about.” It’s a legitimate concern.
“Right now, not having any fans in the arenas, it’s a big loss for (owners) and we’re all 50/50 on the (hockey-related revenue), so players will lose some money, too,” Savard said. “It’s tough for both sides, but at the same time I think we all think we need to play and figure out a way to keep the sport going, keep the fans involved.”
bhedger@dispatch.com