WordsOfWisdom

We know the plane is going to land in LA in one more hour. It's not pretend. Statistically speaking, there's a flight from New York to LA every single day. Every single day it gets there. Could it potentially not make it? Sure. But it's statistically unlikely. Just as it's unlikely that Couturier would have finished the season not scoring another goal or assist in the final dozen games and ridiculously unlikely that he would have scored 60. Probability is about what is most likely to happen..... and it's so reliable that we use it for quality control, to predict failures, to evaluate work done, etc. We'll never know for sure what would have happened but we know using statistics how things were most likely to have played out.

True but if they're not playing the games at all then they don't have to pay the players salaries. The contracts would be considered "frustrated" (the actual legal term for it) and would be dissolved. (I'll try to avoid getting into contract law because law is so boring lol.) If the players are on the ice playing games then the teams are contractually obligated to pay them the indicated salary. The teams can't say: "well we have less fans so take less money". That's not how contracts work, and certainly not how any current pre-covid NHL contract was ever written. That would require a new contract to be drafted for each player to include a provision for pandemics. As for owing the networks another free season, that'll get taken to arbitration and that provision will get thrown out for the same reason mentioned above. The NHL will deem its TV contract to be "frustrated" (meaning they had no ability to honor it due to circumstances beyond their control) and the contract will be dissolved. The TV networks won't get a free year of anything. That provision was to guard against lockouts (self-inflicted pain) but not pandemics. I may be completely wrong, but that's how I see things unfolding.

When I look at the options, nothing seems to be workable. Consider: Letting fans into arenas with strict social distancing rules means stadiums/arenas at 10% or less capacity. Teams wouldn't make any money under that scenario. IF they went that route it would mean players would have to accept a salary 1/10th their current salary or it's a total bust. Make all games a televised event only with no live audience and charge PPV rates for games. That might work in the short term, but would fans sour on the experience of never being able to see games live? Would fans pay ~$80 to watch a game on TV (per game)? Would fans pay ~$150/game to watch a playoff game on PPV TV? I suspect not but this may be the NHL's only option. Trying to play in bubble cities is problematic because how long do you keep the players in the bubble? They're human beings too. I just don't see it.

Are you talking about THIS Sean Couturier? 2019-20 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 69 22 37 59 The Flyers played 69 games (of which Couturier played in ALL of them) and he scored 22 goals. Couturier was on pace to finish with this: 82 GP, 26 G, 44 A, 70 PTS. You don't get to alter the pace of the player for the final 10-15 games of the season. That's not how it works. If a plane is flying from New York to LA and we examine the location of the plane 3/4 of the way through the flight, the plane will be somewhere over the western United States, it's not going to be over Antarctica.

Is everyone comfortable with the fact that there won't be a 2020-21 NHL season? Thoughts? I understand the NHL was able to get a playoffs in by playing in a "bubble" in two host cities and it worked. Good timing to do it over the end of summer when cases of covid were low and I'm glad they did. However, playing an entire season (or even HALF a season) in a bubble is logistically impossible. Covid cases are spiking again, things are being shut down again, and it appears that this will be a crippling/stiffling problem through winter. Where/how does the NHL get a season in with the current sports landscape at the moment? I just don't see it happening.

Which was a joke. The NHL still hasn't grasped the concept of the regular season and WHY teams play those 82 games. All the NHL sees is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. What they don't understand (but I'm happy to educate them on) is something called SATURATION, PRODUCT DEVALUATION, etc. The more games you have, the less each individual game is worth from both a $$$ standpoint and from a statistical standpoint. If you play enough games to pass the saturation point, then fans will stop attending/watching certain games because they're meaningless. The NFL understands this, and they're 10x more successful than the NHL ever will be. The NFL plays very few games, but each individual game draws the same money as 20 NHL games. Less is more. The NHL should strongly consider a return to a 70-game regular season schedule and a 16-team playoff format at the most although I'd argue for FEWER teams than 16. MLB has arguably the perfect system. Having a playoff system where everyone gets in makes the regular season meaningless. It's like having a pass/fail grade of 25% instead of 50%. If students graduated from a school needing only 25% to pass each course instead of 50-60%, what does that say about the quality of the graduates? The quality of the school?

He got there. #Matthews50GoalSeason

I think it'll be a historical footnote. A trivia question for future hockey fans. Thornton will retire as a Leafs player, without ever having played a game for the Leafs, because there won't be a 2020-21 season.

Welcome to Toronto! Now you need to update your forum avatar to Leafs blue and white and post in the Leafs section for the entirety of next season as punishment lol. In other news, the Leafs signed Alexander Mogilny for the second power play unit to play alongside Joe Thornton!

Losing Kadri clearly brought the Leafs down a notch. There was no fear factor whatsoever in playing Toronto because nobody on this roster will throw a bodycheck. I'm in favour of any move that would toughen up the Leafs and get rid of some of these floaty/primadonna types that are too easily pushed around.

There needs to be a user called ZippityDay first! You have to hang onto that joke for a little while longer lol.

Because Toronto didn't get the same Larry Murphy that the Red Wings got. He stank here. I would say it annoys Leafs fans to see players who coast in Toronto but then elevate their game to enjoy success elsewhere. Larry Murphy was a prime example. Another more recent one was Phil Kessel. A surprising number of NHL players win a Stanley Cup immediately after leaving Toronto. Tyler Bozak is another example.

If he's like another Nazem Kadri then the Leafs definitely need a player like that. Several in fact. My rule of thumb is that if the player is able to make it to the dressing room and play the games, their off-ice issues are minor. If the player is unable to make it due to say..... being incarcerated (lol).... then that's the cut-off point where the player's off-ice issues have now affected their performance on ice. lol Toronto seems to like shipping those guys out. Not sure why. The franchise enjoyed it's greatest successes in recent decades while being led by players with heart. Doug Gilmour. Wendel Clark. Mats Sundin. Gary Roberts. They've never had a player like any of those guys ever since. It's truly remarkable. Phil Kessel was no Wendel Clark. Not even close. Auston Matthews/Mitch Marner is no Doug Gilmour. Not even close. When people say the Leafs lack toughness and heart, they're right. It's so obvious everyone in the league can see it.

I think the leadership needs to come from the top (meaning Matthews, Marner, etc.) If those guys can't be good leaders they should be traded away for replacements who can be. It's really hard to lead from the 4th line. Sometimes that happens but most of the time the team's leader is one of the best players on the team if not the best player. That's all well and good, but I don't care about those details. Being a good person and TALENT gets you to the NHL. I rarely ever pay attention to the off-ice stuff in pro sports however. I'm old school. A player could be a multi-time convicted drunk driver who sleeps with 10 different women at the same time and as long as they perform on the ice and aren't a cancer in the locker room for other players, I don't pry into their private life. Since I don't know any of them personally, I don't care how they behave in their private lives. I enjoy having the "curtain of separation" between my sports heros and my personal family and friends and never mix the two together.

I hope nobody takes this comment the wrong way. Had the Leafs acquired Wayne Simmonds 10 years ago my reaction would have been "giddy up" and I don't think anyone would have batted an eyelash at his ethnicity... because 10 years ago the world didn't care about this issue. Today however, we live in a world where every decision like this has ulterior motives. Here's an article that ran earlier this summer: [Hidden Content] "In my eyes, this was an amazing response and shows that this is one small step in making sure that hockey really is for everyone. Now while this was an extremely powerful player-led gesture, the elephant in the room is still the lack of diversity and representation in the Maple Leafs organization. The Leafs have come a long way when it comes to race relations in hockey, but is it enough? In a city like Toronto, with the Raptors excelling on the diversity front and making folks of all cultures feel like they are at home within their organization, what can the Leafs do to get on their level?" And now we see the rotting, festering, stinking pile of crapola that pervades the sports landscape today. Now it's a "competitive" thing according to the media. He who has the most black players on their roster wins the social justice/public perception war. Let the game begin! Raptors vs Leafs! I've watched the Leafs for over 25 years and not once have I ever cared that there were no black players on the team. It might surprise the league to learn this but.... nobody missed them. The NBA is a mostly black league. The NFL has maybe a 50/50 mix. Baseball has a good portion of black players but mostly white and latin American born players. Nobody has ever cared about the racial breakdown in the various sports. Chalk it up to personal preferences. Black people aren't into hockey much..... and that's fine. They don't have to be. As soon as sports teams feel PRESSURED into achieving race or gender QUOTAS on their rosters, I will take my money elsewhere and support a real professional league that puts TALENT ahead of IDENTITY. My two cents. (I promised no political discussion so I apologize. I want politics out of sports but the league keeps bringing it in. Write to the NHL and complain. I think all fans should complain to the league that we watch to be entertained, not to be lectured to about diversity. This is all I will say on the issue.)