DeBoer said if the Stanley Cup is awarded this year, there needs to be some integrity to the processGETTY IMAGES
Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer said regardless of whether a potentially resumed NHL season extends into July, August or September, he is "all for figuring out how to get some closure for this season before we roll into the next," according to Greg Wyshynski of ESPN.com. Asked of the possible challenges the league would face if the offseason were significantly shortened, including the potential introduction of load management, DeBoer said it would be a "great problem to have if that's the case." DeBoer: "That means we'd have a Stanley Cup playoff, and the Stanley Cup's been awarded for this year." Meanwhile, DeBoer said he would not "want to be the team with the bye, sitting there after being off for a month or two months or three months" in any possible Stanley Cup Playoffs format for a season restart. He added there is a "huge advantage to having actually played games" if non-bye teams "play two-out-of-threes and play-in games while you're sitting there." DeBoer: "Gary Bettman said it best: If you're going to award the Stanley Cup, you want to make sure there's some integrity to the process. That's the most important piece" (ESPN.com, 4/3).
FEELING THE SQUEEZE? In Toronto, Damien Cox wonders if faced with a prolonged NHL shutdown, "Will all 31 teams survive?" There "seems a distinct possibility that this pandemic pause might force one or more teams to cease operations." The "first one that comes to mind" is the Senators, as there have "already been rumours" that the team might one day have to move. The Coyotes and Panthers, ranked 28th and 29th in attendance this season, also would "face challenges with an extended shutdown." Ideally, a "best-case scenario emerges in which the league gets to finish" this season and begins next year "only slightly behind schedule, and all the teams survive" (TORONTO STAR, 4/6).
PLAYING THE WAITING GAME: In Toronto, Steve Simmons wondered why it is taking the NHL "so long to cancel its season and the Stanley Cup playoffs" because they "aren't happening anytime soon." However, he noted there may be some "financial motivation to keep hope alive." By not officially canceling games, the league's teams are "under no obligation to return ticket money." In large markets, this year's money "will certainly be applied to next year's season tickets." There also is a "television revenue side of the equation in all this" (TORONTO SUN, 4/5). Also in Toronto, Lance Hornby wrote under the header, "NHL Schedule Now Truly On Borrowed Time" (TORONTO SUN, 4/4).
OUTSIDE THE BOX: SPORTSNET.ca's Elliotte Friedman reported the NHL and NHLPA are "beginning to spitball scenarios" as to where the remaining regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs games could be held, and "one location that's been mentioned: North Dakota." Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks "makes sense" and is an "impressive facility that is definitely more suitable than many other available non-NHL options" in the U.S. It is "expected that the NHL and NHLPA will discuss other locales this week" (SPORTSNET.ca, 4/5). In North Dakota, Brad Schlossman writes Ralph Engelstad Arena and GM Jody Hodgson have "excelled at putting on big events from the World Juniors to the World Under-18 tournament to the World Curling Championship to running UND's wildly popular destination hockey games." Ralph Engelstad Arena has "never hosted a regular-season or playoff NHL game, but it has played host to preseason NHL games" (GRAND FORKS HERALD, 4/6).
