NHL considering 84 game season

[Puck_Pun]

https://www.espn.com.au/nhl/story/_/id/35265273/sources-nhl-considering-84-game-regular-season-schedule

 

I'll just copy the important bit:

 

The addition of two regular-season games would allow the NHL to keep its current schedule format, which sees every team visit every opponent at least once, while giving divisional rivals four games against each other every season. One theory is that the preseason schedule could be shortened to compensate for the additional games. Games against divisional rivals typically draw larger crowds and bigger audiences on national and local television. "They could play Calgary in Edmonton 10 times and sell them all out. It's crazy," said one NHL general manager.

 

 

So yeah, possibly more rivalry games ahead. It's not that big a change, really. 

 

[SaucyJack]

The regular season is already too long, arguably.

 

How about 70 games.  Three against everyone on your division except one designated rival (where you play 4.). So that’s 3x6 + 1x4 = 22 division games.  Then 2 against the other division’s teams, being 2x24 = 48.  (22 + 48 = 70.)

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

82, 84 games, yea, I'd be ok with the addition of two extra regular season games as long as it comes at the expense of pre-season games.

By the last two games of pre-season, I believe most players are about as ready as they are going to be anyways and the only thing that can happen is injuries due to players playing semi tough, but not so tough as they would a regular season game, worrying about injuries which often leads to......injuries, interestingly enough.
As a fan, by the final pre-season game or two, I don't have any interest as I already have a good idea of who will be on the team and who is going to get sent to the minors....I just want the real stuff to start.

I wouldn't want the season extended farther (playing into June is crazy enough for hockey players as it is!), but losing pre-season games to add regular season games should do just fine in keeping everything the way it is timeline wise for the year.

[Math]

I get the point but I'm a tennant of "Too much rivalry kills the rivalry" and true rivalries are built during repeated play-off match ups. So 82 or 84, it doesn't make much of a difference. But it's all 'bout money anyway. 

[SaucyJack]

If they want to remediate the situation where you currently only play three times against two of your division rivals, you can do so reasonably enough by keeping things at 82 games, which is bluddy long enough:

 

- for 2 of the 8 teams in the other division of your conference, only play twice.  (Play three against the other six.)

 

- that frees up playing 4 against all seven division rivals.

 

2x16 + (3x6 + 2x2) + 4x7 =
32 + 22+ 28 = 82

 

Having Washington play, say, Montreal and Detroit only twice this year, then next year only playing twice vs Buffalo and Florida…etc…not a big deal.

[Howie58]

Greetings:

 

If memory serves, after the 2004-05 stoppage, the league had an unbalanced schedule.  To make things interesting (or so they thought), you played eight games in your division, under the assumption these "rivalry games" would rebuild brand and team loyalty. The experiment lasted three years.  In part, there was boredom.  Further, we only had one out-of-conference meeting a year--not even a home-and-away. So, they reduced inter-conference games, cut back on intra-division games, and added back the home-and-away for out-of-conference.

 

So, fast forward a decade and they want to rejigger the schedule.  It seems like the pendulum is swinging back to the midpoint.  Cutting some preseason games isn't going to offend me.  One way or the other, this is a long season, or so it seems.