Dealing with Stars situation is just the start
It’s like trying to scale a barbed- wire fence.
Sure, you can get over, but it won’t be easy or comfortable and it’s going to leave some cuts and scratches on anyone who tries.
That could describe the NHL as it attempts to have a season starting next week. Before a single game could be played, the Dallas Stars delivered a dispiriting blow to the collective efforts of 31 franchises to get their struggling businesses going again.
Word came out of the Dallas camp early Friday afternoon that practice had been cancelled. By mid- afternoon, the NHL had announced six positive COVID19 tests on the playing roster of the Western Conference defending champions. Two staff members also tested positive.
The Stars were supposed to open on Thursday. Now, it appears they won’t be able to start until Jan. 19, and three games may have to be postponed. Let the schedule juggling begin. In Columbus, meanwhile, 19 Blue
Jackets players did not practise Friday “out of an abundance of caution and in accordance with NHL COVID- 19 protocols.” What exactly that meant was unclear. The Jackets are scheduled to open Thursday against Nashville.
“I have no idea what the doctors do, how the whole protocol works, what they decide,” said Columbus head coach John Tortorella. “And I’m not even going to worry about it. Whatever comes our way each day, we’re going to present ourselves and try to get the best work in we can.”
Dallas and Columbus stand as early evidence that getting all clubs playing out of their own rinks is going to be a different experience for the NHL than it was during the summer, when the league had bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton and didn’t experience a single positive test. The league received a great deal of praise for pulling off the playoffs unscathed, but it’s been clear for some time now that this season will be a different animal entirely.
The NHL is in a tough, tough spot here. The owners have already lost billions of dollars. They’re trying to smooth the way for a new franchise in Seattle next season. The league is so desperate for income that it is allowing ads on helmets for the first time, and has sold naming rights to each of the four new divisions. The Stanley Cup could be the next tradition up for sale to the highest bidder.
Hockey appears to be in a worse situation that other sports because it is played indoors in cold conditions, where the virus can flourish more freely. The NBA started late last month, but has already run into problems. Houston’s opening game had to be postponed. Three members of the Boston Celtics, including Canada’s Tristan Thompson, had to be placed on the COVID list and can’t play Saturday. Philadelphia learned of a positive test Thursday night, forcing the entire team to quarantine.
The NFL, meanwhile, completed its season last Sunday and the playoffs begin Saturday. Cleveland, which plays Pittsburgh on Sunday night, wasn’t able to even practise until Friday because of virusrelated issues, and head coach Kevin Stefanski won’t be able to guide the team because of COVID protocols.
The Buffalo Bills are planning to allow fans at their home stadium Saturday, their first playoff home date since 1996. About 6,770 tickets have been issued, and every fan has to show proof of a negative COVID test to enter Bills Stadium.
This is the land- mine- laden world into which the NHL will skate next week.
What’s going to be interesting is whether the seven Canadian NHL teams, restricted to playing each other during the regular season to avoid crossing the border, will fare any better than the 24 clubs located in the United States. On Friday, the U. S. topped 4,080 COVID- 19 deaths in a single day, more than the number of positive tests in any single day in Ontario this week.
Texas, the home state of the Stars, reported record- high COVID- 19 hospitalizations for five consecutive days. ICU beds are in frighteningly short supply. California, home to the Kings and Ducks, is on emergency footing. The third California team, the San Jose Sharks, has relocated to Arizona for now. New York, home to the Rangers and Islanders, has suffered more COVID deaths than any other state.
Ontario and Manitoba, meanwhile, became the final two provinces to give their blessing for NHL teams to play out of their home arenas. In Toronto, where the Leafs are scheduled to open at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday, COVID cases soared this week.
Clearly, the NHL is going to have to be nimble here and ready to rearrange its schedule. The league wants to complete the Stanley Cup playoffs by July to accommodate U. S. television rights- holder NBC, which is committed to carry the Summer Olympics in Tokyo that month. However, Canadian IOC member Richard Pound speculated Friday that there’s a chance those Olympics, already postponed by a year, may not happen, which theoretically could give the NHL more runway.
For the most part, the NHL has been able to generate the usual interest on hockey matters since announcing plans to hold a 56- game regular season. There’s been lots of coverage of Patrik Laine’s situation in Winnipeg, and Pierre- Luc Dubois’ desire to leave Columbus. Auston Matthews attracted headlines when it was announced he will kill penalties this year. Mathew Barzal of the Islanders has yet to sign a contract. Momentum seemed to be building positively toward opening night.
Then came the sobering news out of Dallas on Friday. If the NFL is any guide, the majority of NHL teams will have to deal with serious manpower shortages because of COVID this season.
Last season was strange. This season looks like a dive into the abyss.