NHL NOT RESTRICTING PLAYER-FAN INTERACTIONS DUE TO CORONAVIRUS
Bettman says there’s no plan for teams to play in empty buildings
Keep high-fiving. Sign as many autographs as you would like.
The NBA and MLB have adopted new policies surrounding player-fan interaction in an attempt to combat the coronavirus, but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman says it’s business as usual.
That could change if the virus continues to spread. But for now, the NHL isn’t preparing for the possibility of playing games without any fans in the arena.
“At this point, it would be premature to pick any one of the possibilities, especially because it may or may not become necessary in North America,” said Bettman. “We’re staying on top of it and are aware of all the possible alternatives. We’ll deal with it if the time comes.
“We’re not going to speculate as to what they (Health Canada or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) could or could not say. We’re aware of what’s happening in other parts of the world. We understand that things may evolve or change and we also understand that we’re going to have to react to it in a timely and sensible basis. But I think, as we sit here today, people shouldn’t get too far ahead of themselves in terms of how they react to this.”
The NHL has implemented some changes. The league office has barred all business travel outside of North America and is quarantining any workers for two weeks who have travelled to a place on the list of affected countries. But the 31 teams are not required to follow the same practises.
“We are advising the clubs as to what’s appropriate,” said Bettman. “Clubs are free to adapt that policy. But when it comes to that level of detail, (the other) leagues will do what they feel they need to do.”
For teams, restricting travel to Europe isn’t necessarily easy, especially in preparation for the NHL Entry Draft.
“Everybody’s got staffs that are going over there or chasing players here,” said Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving. “There are some tournaments that are going to be affected. There are some leagues that are affected. From the NHL standpoint, it’s just wait, watch and stay current with what’s happening.”
The International Ice Hockey Federation has already cancelled six world championship tournaments in Estonia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Luxembourg, Poland and Spain this month. The men’s under-18 world championship, which is being held in Michigan in April, along with the world championship in Switzerland in May, still remain on the schedule — for now.
“We’ll see where that goes,” said Treliving. “Some of the European leagues are either cancelling their seasons, or we’re ending it early, or we’re not allowing people into the games. You’ve got to take the leadership for your staff and make sure you’re not putting them in tough situations. But for right now, it’s business as usual until you find out otherwise.”
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says the salary cap is projected to be between $84 million and $88.2 million for next season — up from $81.5 million this year — depending on the inflator percentage decided by the NHLPA. But unlike previous years, when the cap was announced around the NHL Entry Draft at the end of June, the league is pushing for the NHLPA to present teams with a final number as early as possible to help them prepare for the July 1 free agency period … Bettman said he had a real Walter
Mitty moment when David Ayres stepped into a game as an emergency backup goalie for Carolina last month, before asking if anyone was “old enough” to know who Walter Mitty was … There have been a number of injuries to players immediately coming out of the bye week this year, prompting some to call for an end to the weeklong break and instead package days off throughout the schedule. The NHL is reportedly on board for the change, but it’s not really its decision to make. “It’s not our invention,” said Daly. “It’s not our preference,” added Bettman, reminding everyone that it was the players who wanted the bye week to begin with.
The race for the Calder Trophy hit a speed bump for Colorado’s Cale Makar, who suffered a concussion in a game last week. Avalanche GM Joe Sakic said he wouldn’t be surprised if Makar, who has missed time with another injury earlier in the season, returns even stronger. “He’s just so poised out there. He’s very confident in his abilities. Coming out of college, you think you would see a little drop-off just from fatigue. And I haven’t seen that at all. He’s a professional in everything he does” … Forget about Erik Karlsson, Mark Stone or Jean-gabriel Pageau. If I were a Senators fan, Mika Zibanejad would be at the top of the list of ones that got away. The 26-yearold, who could have been at centre between Brady Tkachuk and Anthony Duclair next season, has 33 goals and 66 points with the Rangers this season.
Devils rookie Jack Hughes has seven goals and 21 points in 57 games. But before writing him off as a bust after being taken
No. 1 overall, keep in mind this hasn’t been an easy season for the 18-year-old forward. Hughes is playing for a very young team that fired its head coach and GM and traded away Taylor
Hall, Blake Coleman and Wayne Simmonds. Also remember that Steven Stamkos had 23 goals and 46 points as a rookie and that Rick Nash had 17 goals and 39 points in his first year. In Year 2, Stamkos had 51 goals and 95 points and Nash had 41 goals and 57 points. So let’s see what Hughes — and New Jersey — does next year before jumping to any conclusions … For what it’s worth, it also hasn’t been a good year for Rangers’ No. 2 pick Kaapo Kakko, who has eight goals and 20 points in 62 games … Combined, Hughes and Kakko have 41 points. That’s five more points than what defenceman Rasmus Dahlin, also a No. 1 pick, had in 54 games as a rookie.
Ask Sakic what’s stood out about Nazem Kadri this season and he immediately goes to the intangibles.
He’s emotional. He plays on the edge.
Sakic means this as a positive. But for the Toronto Maple Leafs, those same intangibles eventually became a negative for a player who was suspended in each of the past two playoffs for not keeping his emotions in check in back-to-back first-round losses to the Boston Bruins.
It’s partly why Kadri was traded to Colorado in exchange for Tyson Barrie and Alex Kerfoot in the summer. But while the Leafs might have been concerned Kadri was incapable of learning from his past mistakes, Sakic doesn’t share that same sentiment.
“I’m not worried about that at all,” he said. “He’s an emotional guy. That’s kind of what sets him apart too. So you don’t want to take too much of that away. Obviously, you don’t want him crossing that line, but we don’t anticipate that.”
Kadri has 19 goals and 36 points in 51 games with the Avalanche this season, while also picking up a team-high 97 penalty minutes. Along with wingers Andre Burakovsky (45 points) and Joonas Donskoi (32 points), he’s given Colorado a second line that can take some pressure off the top line featuring Nathan Mackinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog.
“He’s been huge,” said Sakic. “You can play him against anybody. He’s got a tremendous amount of skill. He brings that grit.”
Don’t blame San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson for not being able to trade Joe Thornton to a Stanley Cup contender at last week’s deadline.
While the Sharks were able to send Patrick Marleau to Pittsburgh in what might be a final attempt to win a championship, the team’s failure to do the same for Thornton had less to do with the Sharks and the limited interest in a 40-year-old centre who has five goals and 28 points this season.
According to various reports, there were a handful of teams interested in Thornton. But none of them were what he would have considered true contenders.
“I left it up to both of those people to explore those opportunities,” said Wilson. “It came to fruition with Patty. But it didn’t come to fruition with Jumbo. There were some teams that he wanted to go to (but they) went in different directions.”
A day after the deadline, Thornton expressed frustration that he won’t get a chance at a trophy he’s “been dreaming about ever since I can remember.”
“We handled the situation in the same way we did with Patty, and if something had come to fruition, we would have done it,” added Wilson. “Joe is such a special guy and he loves the game. Look what he’s doing right now. He’s leading our team so well and leading our young guys. But it would have been nice if something had worked out for him like it did for Patrick.”