Nhl tentative divisions for 2021 season

[yave1964]

Looking like January the 13th is the date with four divisions and a million questions. To begin the (tentative) Divisions

 

D1 Philly, Washington, Pittsburgh, Isles, Rangers, Devils, Sabres and Bruins..

 

WOW. Just an insane amount of talented teams in this division The two weak sisters, Jersey and the Sabres have actually both improved. Simply stacked.

 

D2 Tampa, Carolina, Columbus, Florida, Detroit, Nashville, Minnesota and Chicago.

 

UGH. Tampa and the seven dwarfs. Okay, Carolina is good, Columbus is meh but the rest you could make a case for any of the five finishing dead last in the league.

 

D3 St. Louis, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Arizona, Vegas, Colorado and Dallas.

 

Like D1, this Division is top heavy, The Blues, the 'Lanche, Stars and Knights could all win it all. The Cali teams are all in a state of flux.

 

D4 Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver

 

They are going to play in Canada only not allowed to travel to the States with Covid raging.

 

So many questions

[yave1964]

A few of my questions:

 

WHY NOT SWITH THE BLUES AND PREDATORS FOR THE SAKE OF BALANCING OUT THE POWER? The Blues could give the Bolts a bit of a run for their money, if they dont do this the Lightning will be playing the entire regular season to prepare for the postseason. 

 

WILL TEAMS PLAY WITHIN THEIR OWN DIVISIONS OR OUTSIDE OF THEM? Clearly the Canadian clubs are not coming stateside, does this mean the other divisions will do the same?

 

HOW MANY TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS? I have read three separate scenarios listed below

 

1. Four per division playing their own division first two rounds before going on. Makes the most sense.

2. Five per division, with seeds 4/5 playing a 3 game play in series. 20 teams make the postseason

3. six per division with teams 3,4,5,6 playing a 3 game play in series and teams 1 and 2 getting a bye. 24 teams make the postseason.

 

I personally think six per division is way too many especially in Canada where there are only seven to begin with but Bettman REALY liked the 24 team format and it has been rumored it is likely here to stay at least in the short term.

 

CAN UNITED STATES TEAMS TRADE WITH CANADA?

 Lets assume the Wings are out of it by the deadline and want to deal Bobby Ryan for a 4th rounder, and the Canucks come calling. Can he be dealt to a Canadian team? Does he have to quarantine for two weeks before being allowed in Country? Does this affect value of a player being traded to a Canadian franchise?

 

  These are all more or less off the top of my head, just glad to have hockey back but this could be a mess.

 

[yave1964]

My personal druthers for scheduling this season would be to play within the Division, USA teams playing eight games against each of the Divisional foes. I heard Scott Stevens almost drooling over this scenario, saying we would see contempt and hate and rivalry that we havent had since before the big expansion, back when teams used to play each other eight times a year. He went on and on about the Devils/Rangers in the day, i tend to agree. I remember the old Norris black and blue division, the teams werent very good but used to get a good old hate on. For one short year i could see that as a way of getting the fans interested.

[pilldoc]

@yave1964

 

Excellent post....After reading through I actually have the very same questions you brought up ...you just posted quicker before me .. LOL

 

5 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

WILL TEAMS PLAY WITHIN THEIR OWN DIVISIONS OR OUTSIDE OF THEM? Clearly the Canadian clubs are not coming stateside, does this mean the other divisions will do the same?

 

Clearly this is a biggie.   It certainly would not be fair to the Canadian teams if the other Divisions have games outside of their own division.

 

7 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

HOW MANY TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS? I have read three separate scenarios listed below

 

1. Four per division playing their own division first two rounds before going on. Makes the most sense.

2. Five per division, with seeds 4/5 playing a 3 game play in series. 20 teams make the postseason

3. six per division with teams 3,4,5,6 playing a 3 game play in series and teams 1 and 2 getting a bye. 24 teams make the postseason.

 

Again ....trying to get back to normal I would go seeds 1 through 8 HOWEVER, will there be a playoff off bubble like last year?  Especially since the Canadian teams will not be allowed to cross the border.  

 

9 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

CAN UNITED STATES TEAMS TRADE WITH CANADA?

 

Again a very good question ......

 

My questions .....

 

1) Do we know how many games? I have heard 54-60?  

2) Will rosters be expanded to allow players to go to a COVID IR if they test (+)?

3) Obviously NO All Star Game. (truthfully I will not miss it)

4) More  B2B games?

5) Will the schedule be flexible enough to allow the rescheduling of games?

[pilldoc]

9 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

My personal druthers for scheduling this season would be to play within the Division, USA teams playing eight games against each of the Divisional foes. I heard Scott Stevens almost drooling over this scenario, saying we would see contempt and hate and rivalry that we havent had since before the big expansion, back when teams used to play each other eight times a year. He went on and on about the Devils/Rangers in the day, i tend to agree. I remember the old Norris black and blue division, the teams werent very good but used to get a good old hate on. For one short year i could see that as a way of getting the fans interested.

 

^^^^ This x1000

 

Wholeheartedly agree with everything... Though I get the premise of playing every team, I miss the old days where the Flyer's played the old Patrick teams the majority of the time.  

[yave1964]

@pilldoc

 

I have a friend who sells season ticket packages for the Monsters in Cleveland and according to him they are saying all the right things about having a season but he has heard the AHL may be cancelled. If so, they will probably go with an expanded taxi roster for the NHL. I know a lot of the ECHL teams have already closed shop for this year. The minors wil likely be a casualty of the shortened season.

 

I have heard 56 games with the owners wanting more for additional revenues but the players wanting 48. 

 

As far as B2B, ABSOLUTELY. As fantasy players i will likely carry four goalies, two from two teams both the starters and backups. Teams in the NHL with a solid 1A and 1B will have a huge advantage over teams like Winnipeg with a brilliant starter and a meh backup. 

All star game another casualty that hadnt occured to me because frankly i dont pay attention to it anyway, lol. No outdoor January first game obviously either. Not sure if they are going to get anymore outside games in.

 

  It is going to be a mess, kinda like football this year I am afraid. Still i cannot wait.

[yave1964]

And i guess the big question, will there be fans? Canada may be able to pull it off, maybe not fill the barn to the rafters with twenty thousand screaming Oiler fans when they take on the hated Flames, but four or five thousand fans a game. Will the United States clubs be able to follow suit? I doubt it, already the rumor is San Jose will be forced to play elsewhere due to Covid restrictions, lets say they end up in Arizona as rumored, how many Coyote fans will want to watch a game between the Sharks and Ducks for instance.

 

 So yeah, how much if any fan participation is the big one i left out, i seriously dont believe it will work in the States but i believe Canada can and will work something out. Looks like i am moving to ottawa, lol.

[pilldoc]

21 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

As fantasy players i will likely carry four goalies, two from two teams both the starters and backups. Teams in the NHL with a solid 1A and 1B will have a huge advantage

 

I have already come to that realization as I prepare for our respective drafts ...... IMO 4 goalies is a must.

[notfondajane]

15 hours ago, yave1964 said:

Looking like January the 13th is the date with four divisions and a million questions. To begin the (tentative) Divisions

 

D1 Philly, Washington, Pittsburgh, Isles, Rangers, Devils, Sabres and Bruins..

 

WOW. Just an insane amount of talented teams in this division The two weak sisters, Jersey and the Sabres have actually both improved. Simply stacked.

 

D2 Tampa, Carolina, Columbus, Florida, Detroit, Nashville, Minnesota and Chicago.

 

UGH. Tampa and the seven dwarfs. Okay, Carolina is good, Columbus is meh but the rest you could make a case for any of the five finishing dead last in the league.

 

D3 St. Louis, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Arizona, Vegas, Colorado and Dallas.

 

Like D1, this Division is top heavy, The Blues, the 'Lanche, Stars and Knights could all win it all. The Cali teams are all in a state of flux.

 

D4 Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver

 

They are going to play in Canada only not allowed to travel to the States with Covid raging.

 

So many questions

I was thinking about moving Detroit and Columbus in with Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Then moving Philadelphia and Washington to D2 to give Tampa a run for their money

[yave1964]

8 hours ago, notfondajane said:

I was thinking about moving Detroit and Columbus in with Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Then moving Philadelphia and Washington to D2 to give Tampa a run for their money

Yeah the way they are planning on doing the divisions is very unbalanced skill wise, Tampa will have ZERO competition, Carolina is the second best team but has awful goaltending. I like your idea, Detroit, Buffalo, columbus, Pittsburgh all seem like a good rivalry in the making but alas, probably not this year.

[WordsOfWisdom]

On 12/11/2020 at 5:57 PM, yave1964 said:

Looking like January the 13th is the date with four divisions and a million questions.

 

I think it's more fantasy than reality. The trend in Canada is that MORE regions are moving INTO lockdown, not the other way around. Entire provinces like Manitoba and Alberta are already locked down, and recently. Ontario is trending in that direction as well. The COVID numbers are going UP not down. 

 

The NHL certainly wants to get a season going, but this is nothing like the situation back in July/August. This is akin to the NHL trying to play on back in March and April of last year (and then multiply that by two because the numbers are twice as high now as they were back then). 

 

I don't know what Bettman is smoking but there's no jurisdiction anywhere in North America that is going to host NHL games right now with 3000+ Americans now dying PER DAY.  

[notfondajane]

22 hours ago, yave1964 said:

Yeah the way they are planning on doing the divisions is very unbalanced skill wise, Tampa will have ZERO competition, Carolina is the second best team but has awful goaltending. I like your idea, Detroit, Buffalo, columbus, Pittsburgh all seem like a good rivalry in the making but alas, probably not this year.

Good rivalries usually take a few years. Especially among fans. Let's hope it happens! Always liked Wings and Pens.

In high school I wore a Red Wings jacket. I caught some slack at the time because they weren't very good. I was trying to be a gentleman and gave it to a female who was cold, I have not seen it since. I would have liked to have worn it in 97, 98 and 08.

[notfondajane]

19 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

I think it's more fantasy than reality. The trend in Canada is that MORE regions are moving INTO lockdown, not the other way around. Entire provinces like Manitoba and Alberta are already locked down, and recently. Ontario is trending in that direction as well. The COVID numbers are going UP not down. 

 

The NHL certainly wants to get a season going, but this is nothing like the situation back in July/August. This is akin to the NHL trying to play on back in March and April of last year (and then multiply that by two because the numbers are twice as high now as they were back then). 

 

I don't know what Bettman is smoking but there's no jurisdiction anywhere in North America that is going to host NHL games right now with 3000+ Americans now dying PER DAY.  

Like last season, this season should be washed out till this BS epidemic is under control.

[notfondajane]

On 12/12/2020 at 9:39 PM, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

I think it's more fantasy than reality. The trend in Canada is that MORE regions are moving INTO lockdown, not the other way around. Entire provinces like Manitoba and Alberta are already locked down, and recently. Ontario is trending in that direction as well. The COVID numbers are going UP not down. 

 

The NHL certainly wants to get a season going, but this is nothing like the situation back in July/August. This is akin to the NHL trying to play on back in March and April of last year (and then multiply that by two because the numbers are twice as high now as they were back then). 

 

I don't know what Bettman is smoking but there's no jurisdiction anywhere in North America that is going to host NHL games right now with 3000+ Americans now dying PER DAY.  

Like last season, this season should be washed out till this BS epidemic is under control.

[notfondajane]

Speaking of Columbus, I was looking at a map of Pennsylvania and found a City of Columbus up in Warren County near the New York border. I guess a little over a hour drive south of Buffalo.

[notfondajane]

On 12/11/2020 at 6:07 PM, yave1964 said:

A few of my questions:

 

WHY NOT SWITH THE BLUES AND PREDATORS FOR THE SAKE OF BALANCING OUT THE POWER? The Blues could give the Bolts a bit of a run for their money, if they dont do this the Lightning will be playing the entire regular season to prepare for the postseason. 

 

WILL TEAMS PLAY WITHIN THEIR OWN DIVISIONS OR OUTSIDE OF THEM? Clearly the Canadian clubs are not coming stateside, does this mean the other divisions will do the same?

 

HOW MANY TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS? I have read three separate scenarios listed below

 

1. Four per division playing their own division first two rounds before going on. Makes the most sense.

2. Five per division, with seeds 4/5 playing a 3 game play in series. 20 teams make the postseason

3. six per division with teams 3,4,5,6 playing a 3 game play in series and teams 1 and 2 getting a bye. 24 teams make the postseason.

 

I personally think six per division is way too many especially in Canada where there are only seven to begin with but Bettman REALY liked the 24 team format and it has been rumored it is likely here to stay at least in the short term.

 

CAN UNITED STATES TEAMS TRADE WITH CANADA?

 Lets assume the Wings are out of it by the deadline and want to deal Bobby Ryan for a 4th rounder, and the Canucks come calling. Can he be dealt to a Canadian team? Does he have to quarantine for two weeks before being allowed in Country? Does this affect value of a player being traded to a Canadian franchise?

 

  These are all more or less off the top of my head, just glad to have hockey back but this could be a mess.

 

Put Dallas there for travel purposes. Also the Panthers, Press and Canes.

How would you have the finals if crossing the border is a problem? 

I would prefer less teams in the playoffs. I tend to like the format that was in the late 70s where the top 12 made the playoffs. Top 4 teams received byes.the bottom 8 played a best of 3 (I prefer 5). The winners advance to a best of 7. ( Most points vs least points.) Until the finals.

[notfondajane]

On 12/11/2020 at 6:07 PM, yave1964 said:

A few of my questions:

 

WHY NOT SWITH THE BLUES AND PREDATORS FOR THE SAKE OF BALANCING OUT THE POWER? The Blues could give the Bolts a bit of a run for their money, if they dont do this the Lightning will be playing the entire regular season to prepare for the postseason. 

 

WILL TEAMS PLAY WITHIN THEIR OWN DIVISIONS OR OUTSIDE OF THEM? Clearly the Canadian clubs are not coming stateside, does this mean the other divisions will do the same?

 

HOW MANY TEAMS MAKE THE PLAYOFFS? I have read three separate scenarios listed below

 

1. Four per division playing their own division first two rounds before going on. Makes the most sense.

2. Five per division, with seeds 4/5 playing a 3 game play in series. 20 teams make the postseason

3. six per division with teams 3,4,5,6 playing a 3 game play in series and teams 1 and 2 getting a bye. 24 teams make the postseason.

 

I personally think six per division is way too many especially in Canada where there are only seven to begin with but Bettman REALY liked the 24 team format and it has been rumored it is likely here to stay at least in the short term.

 

CAN UNITED STATES TEAMS TRADE WITH CANADA?

 Lets assume the Wings are out of it by the deadline and want to deal Bobby Ryan for a 4th rounder, and the Canucks come calling. Can he be dealt to a Canadian team? Does he have to quarantine for two weeks before being allowed in Country? Does this affect value of a player being traded to a Canadian franchise?

 

  These are all more or less off the top of my head, just glad to have hockey back but this could be a mess.

 

Put Dallas there for travel purposes. Also the Panthers, Press and Canes.

How would you have the finals if crossing the border is a problem? 

I would prefer less teams in the playoffs. I tend to like the format that was in the late 70s where the top 12 made the playoffs. Top 4 teams received byes.the bottom 8 played a best of 3 (I prefer 5). The winners advance to a best of 7. ( Most points vs least points.) Until the finals.

[notfondajane]

If teams in Canada aren't allowed to cross the border, how would the Stanley Cup Finals be held?

[yave1964]

18 minutes ago, notfondajane said:

If teams in Canada aren't allowed to cross the border, how would the Stanley Cup Finals be held?

When it gets to that point it likely would be going back to the bubble, but it is still a LOOOOONG ways off and so much is up in the air.

[notfondajane]

20 hours ago, yave1964 said:

When it gets to that point it likely would be going back to the bubble, but it is still a LOOOOONG ways off and so much is up in the air.

You're correct in saying it's a long way off. Someone still has to cross the border? I guess in time we will find out!

[WordsOfWisdom]

The latest news now is that the NHL wants the Canadian teams to play all of their games in the US in order to get around COVID-19 lockdowns and other restrictions in Canada.

 

Canada has a fraction of the number of COVID-19 cases that the US has but we seem to be the only ones implementing any real restrictions. I guess it just baffles me that the NHL really believes it can pull this off without a hitch. 

 

Are fans allowed at NBA and NFL games?  It would be strange indeed to watch Toronto playing somewhere south of the border (Buffalo let's say) in front of 20,000 fans while Toronto is in lockdown. 

[notfondajane]

On 12/16/2020 at 12:44 PM, yave1964 said:

When it gets to that point it likely would be going back to the bubble, but it is still a LOOOOONG ways off and so much is up in the air.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG GUY! HEARD YOU TURN 18 TODAY?!

[Math]

9 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

Are fans allowed at NBA and NFL games?  It would be strange indeed to watch Toronto playing somewhere south of the border (Buffalo let's say) in front of 20,000 fans while Toronto is in lockdown.

 

That won't happen. In the US it depends on the state rules, in KC and Miami some people are allowed to attend NFL games (I think it's like 10k-12k in KC) while other stadiums are totally empty.

 

If the NHL season begins in January (and it's a big IF) it will be with no attendance at all. In Switzerland they started the season with areas at 2/3 capacity, then it was reduced to 1000 and now it's without any crowd. So it was a big fail. Th logistics don't really concern the game itself, but how to respect rules when you arrive and leave the arena, in the hall ways, toilets, etc...

 

I'm not really in favor of a gradual approach. Start the season in empty arenas, then allow a 100% capacity in the building if and only if it's clear and once this mess is behind us. If the chances of having a full normal 2021-2022 season has to go through playing without public the whole 2020-2021 season, then go for it. If doors open too quickly and outbreaks occur, it's back to the starting point.

 

 

[WordsOfWisdom]

2 hours ago, Villette/Lavaux said:

That won't happen. In the US it depends on the state rules, in KC and Miami some people are allowed to attend NFL games (I think it's like 10k-12k in KC) while other stadiums are totally empty.

 

Is there any trend towards clamping down?  Up here when I flip on the news it's all about locking down more and more areas. There hasn't been any loosening of any restrictions since summer time. It has been a gradual escalation since September as the government continues to crack down and close businesses.

 

2 hours ago, Villette/Lavaux said:

If the NHL season begins in January (and it's a big IF) it will be with no attendance at all. In Switzerland they started the season with areas at 2/3 capacity, then it was reduced to 1000 and now it's without any crowd. So it was a big fail. 

 

That's what I'm thinking. IF the NHL tried to start the season with all 31 teams playing in the US, I would think it would be brought to a quick halt once the daily death toll hits 5000+ by January. It's really just blissful ignorance (and massive greed) on the part of the NHL at this point to be so out of touch with the times. (Ditto for the NBA, MLB, and NFL.)

 

I remember how much opposition there was to the NHL playing on last March. Everyone talked about player and fan safety. I don't sense any real opposition to the NHL starting a new season now. It's bizarre. 

 

I can't imagine the NHL would make any money playing in front of empty arenas. It's a gate-driven league. If anything they're just running themselves farther into the hole. That old automotive adage of: "We lose money on every unit that we sell, but we make up for it with volume" applies here. The more games the NHL plays in front of empty arenas, the more money it loses.

 

 

[JR Ewing]

36 minutes ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

Is there any trend towards clamping down? 

 

Sadly, the big trend is in zipping up body bags.