NHL gearing up to give 2021 season a try during the COVID-19 pandemic
While things can seemingly change weekly if not daily during the pandemic, the NHL does appear to be closing in on plans for a new season.
Media reports have the league eyeing a Jan. 13 start and a 56-game regular season, followed by the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. Darren Dreger of TSN in Canada was the first to report on a breakthrough in what has been something of a stalemate in talks between the NHL and NHL Players’ Association, and The Associated Press reported Tuesday that training camps could open Jan. 1.
There are still some moving parts, questions and logistics to be handled. Will the team rosters be expanded? Will the games be played in pods or all in home arenas? Will there be some outdoor games?
And all that with the daunting backdrop of COVID-19 and an alarming spike in coronavirus cases in the U.S. and Canada in the past few months. College basketball is grappling with the coronavirus issue, and there have been many cancellations. The NHL still must decide how much testing will be done and how safely games can be played.
What would an abbreviated season be like? Think back to the 2012-13 season and the last lockout, when the NHL and NHLPA haggled for months over a new collective bargaining agreement. A CBA finally was ratified and games began Jan. 19, 2013, in a 48-game regular season. The Stanley Cup finals, won by the Chicago Blackhawks, ended June 24.
Carolina Hurricanes president and general manager Don Waddell turned some heads late last week when he said there could soon be an NHL resolution in plans for the 2020-21 season — or what could now be a 2021 season — and the Canes could be playing games in PNC Arena “sometime in January.” Turns out, Waddell wasn’t being overly optimistic.
It’s likely there will be new divisions. Given the COVID-19 quarantines for those traveling to Canada, there could be an all-Canadian division and three U.S. divisions. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic, reported Wednesday that the Canes could land in a division with Tampa Bay, Florida, Nashville, Columbus, Chicago, Detroit and Minnesota.
Making the playoffs — commissioner Gary Bettman has said he wants to return to a 16-team Stanley Cup format — would be formidable, regardless of where the Hurricanes are placed.
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The Canes, in the playoffs the past two seasons, did keep their team largely intact, which would help if there’s a hastened start to the season. Defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce have recovered from injuries last season, and coach Rod Brind’Amour would not have to do much tinkering — veteran forward Jesper Fast, signed in free agency, is the only new face in the mix if no further changes are made.
In 2013, the Canes played their first game at Florida on Jan. 19 and started the season 3-4-0. They then went 5-0-1 in their next six games and were in good position in the then-Southeast Division until goalie Cam Ward was lost with a leg injury in early March. Later, defenseman Joni Pitkanen suffered what would be a career-ending heel injury.
The Canes were 19-25-4, missing the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season. While mostly disappointing, the shortened season did make for a few unexpected highlights: forward Jiri Tlusty scored a career-high 23 goals and the Canes started an all-Staal line — Eric, Jordan and youngest brother Jared — in a late-season game.
By year’s end, 36 players had appeared in at least one game for the Canes. Of the 36, only Jordan Staal remains from the 2012-13 team.
A strong start and luck with injuries could be a must for the Canes in a sprint-to-the-finish-line kind of season. They’ll need to be fast out of the blocks and the Canes have been in Brind’Amour’s first two seasons as head coach — 4-0-1 in 2018-19 and then 5-0-0 last season.
The Canes, eliminated by the Bruins in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, have not qualified for the playoffs in three consecutive seasons since the move to North Carolina in 1997.
