Daly said the league and NHLPA want to advocate for best practices around combatting the virusGetty Images
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said the league put into place "very, very comprehensive protocols that will keep people as safe as we can keep them," and is "looking forward to operating in our seven Canadian markets,” according to Pierre LeBrun of THE ATHLETIC. Daly: "We have the thumbs up, the clubs have the thumbs up." He noted July 9 will be the start date of the Stanley Cup Final with the schedule "perfectly in place," but alternatively, July 15 is an "outside date and even that could probably slip a couple of days if it needed to." Daly said, "We’ll see where we are as we go along during the course of the season. We’ll see if we have to re-schedule some games, whether they can be re-scheduled in the context of the existing schedule or whether they have to be re-scheduled outside the context of the existing schedule." Daly, asked how the league feels about players getting vaccinated, said he does not think the league will be "fortunate enough to have that issue in the short-term." But Daly said the league and NHLPA "feel like we’re aligned in wanting to utilize our public platform to advocate for best practices, and hygiene, and taking care of yourself, and washing your hands, and using your masks and ultimately perhaps as well utilizing vaccine" (THEATHLETIC.com, 12/30).
OPENER FAST APPROACHING: The CP's Joshua Clipperton wrote the "sprint to the NHL’s 56-game finish line started in earnest" yesterday, and got going with "testing and physicals to close out the weekend before hitting the ice" today. With the Jan. 13 season start date "fast-approaching," time is "precious and the runway short." Flames GM Brad Treliving of the 48-game NHL season in '12-13 said, "You woke up one day and you had 15 games left. It just goes by. You play every night.” Clipperton noted while the NHL "believes it has an agreement on health and safety protocols to play games in Canada," the B.C. and Alberta governments are the "only provinces with teams to publicly announce a thumbs up for the puck to drop." The "one-time-only North Division will begin in empty arenas" -- a handful of U.S. franchises, meanwhile, have indicated they "will have some fans in attendance from the start" (CP, 1/3).
STRANGE SEASON: In Toronto, Michael Traikos writes the '21 NHL season, "where you almost have to suspend belief in order to accept just how different the league will look this year," is going to be an "odd-looking season." The "strangest part of what lies ahead will most likely involve the 56-game schedule." With only 56 games, "expect the unexpected." Traikos: "We might now be getting used to seeing games played in empty -- or near-empty arenas. We’re also used to seeing a shortened season." But this year’s divisional alignment is "unlike anything we’ve ever seen before." As such, this season promises to be "unlike any we’ve seen before" (TORONTO SUN, 1/4).
