Icechipper

I've thought the same. Minneapolis-St. Paul one metro area but Wild play on the east side of the Mississippi at XCel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul. But yeah, hotels on both sides of the river would be required to host the event. National Guard called in and cleared streets last night. I am a former guardsman but only call ups were for floods, not for this kind of sh*#show....

Why would a young man move away from home to play hockey in the thug-fueled sh#*storm in Minneapolis-St. Paul?

Advantage: last change and two periods, vs. one, with more favorable bench proximity for changes on the fly........

Good point. Did the NHL ask the fans? I love hockey and even skate some summer nights in pickup games, but admit my diet for watching playoffs gets tested in June. Here I the Northland, winters are long, and I wonder if even hockey-mad Canadiens will tune in at the end of long summer days. Suppose we could watch around the bonfire......

If we're making world competion comparisons, shall we have the seven weak sister teams play a relegation tournament in Grand Forks or Flin Flon, kind of like the NIT basketball tournament, with the worst team relegated to the ECHL for next season? yeah, a top four seeded team ca lay an egg on the qualifiers, go 0-3, then turn on the jets. Four goalies fits with the six skater practice rules for the wind up phase. So with 28 players, since this is for all the marbles, each team may elect to ice a minor-league knuckle dragging pugilist from the minors, who can goon it up and get tossed from the tournament, without his team skipping a beat.....oh the possibilities. What's to keep top four teams from resting groin strained or superstar players in those meaningless contests?

To the league's credit there are at least three women on the committee working on this, attorneys to both the league and players, in addition to at least one of the physicians consulting......

I actually read the 14 page phase II plan online. What I can't find anywhere is the allowed playoff roster. Theoretically could apply to up to 50 players under contract. The document specifically mentions teams paying travel and accommodations for AHL players with NHL contracts. What's to stop teams who signed college players and other foreigners and free agents from bringing those guys into camp? Top teir teams may even cosse to field several vastly different lineups in the play in games. May not be practical to have overstuffed locker rooms and 10 or more black aces in the press box. The 23 player cap does it apply in playoffs. Unless someone else has heard a number, it appears to me that the league and players are, for lack of a better team name or word, winging it........can anyone enlighten us?

The other dynamic here is talk of expanded rosters. You have Minnesota talking about signing Kiprosov while other clubs I assume could bring in the cream of the NCAA. Meanwhile no AHL playoffs. Lineups could be vastly different from those that existed pre-pandemic. Stalock as playoff MVP! Crazy approach to crazy times leads to crazy results.

Toronto comes to mind considering its proximity to Detroit north of the Great Lakes. Colorado was a hated Red Wing rival in the days of Darren McCarty and Claude Lemieaux in the late '90s

Bettman might want to contact that South Korean soccer team that put clothed, apparently inflated sex dolls, to s(t)imulate fans in he stands.....

Must add that working concerts in the Midwest I work alongside a lot of Nashville based artists and roadies, and those country guys and gals love their Predators and are well versed in the game of hockey....

Make that Mikael Granlund, right? I believe the younger Markus Granlund plays for the Canucks...

Sounds like AHL scoring leader Sam Anas will walk as free agent. Wild need to preserve space on baby Wild roster for the kids.....

Stick a fork in this season. United States/Canada/Mexico just extended border closings another 30 days (exceptions for vital shipping). Which means the NHL won't be able to bring the cup across the border, let alone hundreds of Canadian players. Only thing I can see is staging in Canadian rinks, as the Great White North would certainly classify hockey players as essential to the nation.....

Kleven committed to University of North Dakota....