Teams get a memo from the NHL
Bruce Garrioch: NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said that they sent a memo to all teams saying that NHL and NHLPA continue to work on next season and that there may be a recommendation for the Board of Governors on Thursday. Their objective “remains to start as early as Jan.1.”
Bruce Garrioch: Daly added that they hope to finish the 2020-21 regular season by the end of April and have the 2021-22 NHL season start at their normal dates.
Daly didn’t say how long the regular season would be.
Bettman on the 2020-21 NHL season
Nicholas Cotsonika of NHL.com: The NHL continues to explore different ideas on how to proceed with the 2020-21 NHL season – short-term hubs, less games, temporary realignment are all on the table.
If they go with using hub cities again, it would be for a much shorter time-frame and teams would move in and out.
“You’ll play for 10 to 12 days,” Commissioner Bettman said in a virtual panel discussion during the 2020 Paley International Council Summit. “You’ll play a bunch of games without traveling. You’ll go back, go home for a week, be with your family. We’ll have our testing protocols and all the other things you need.
“It’s not going to be quite as effective as a bubble, but we think we can, if we go this route, minimize the risks to the extent practical and sensible. And so that’s one of the things that we’re talking about.”
With the nonessential Canada-U.S. border restrictions, there are quarantining issues that will need to be worked out across Country and State borders. An all-Canadian division is an option as well as making the other divisions more geography centric.
“As it relates to the travel issue, which is obviously the great unknown, we may have to temporarily realign to deal with geography, and that may make sense, because having some of our teams travel from Florida to California may not make sense.
“It may be that we’re better off, particularly if we’re playing a reduced schedule, which we’re contemplating, keeping it geographically centric, more divisional based, and realigning, again on a temporary basis, to deal with the travel issues.”
Bettman said that their TV rating were down in part by not having fans in the stands to bring the energy and that the casual hockey fans were not as interested to watch hockey in the summer.
The NHL would like to get back to their regular fall start and ending the season before July as early as the 2021-22 season.
On TV ratings and selling the game
Allan Walsh: “NHL TV ratings were down up to 61% in both the U.S. and Canada. It’s a lot more than lack of energy in the building with no fans or casual fans didn’t tune in during the summer. Unless the NHL commits to selling the game around the players, nothing will change.
NHL players have compelling narratives and are some of the most interesting athletes in any sport. TV broadcasts need to sell a story, let the fans know who these players (and their families) are off the ice, give the fans access.”
- Stu Siegel: (former Florida Panthers owner) “Alan, I made every effort to get our players into the community. Most agents protected them and blocked me. Only a small number of the players enjoyed it and participated. Goes both ways!”