Everything we know about when the Toronto Maple Leafs will return.
Kyle Dubas has done a tremendous job with re-shaping the Toronto Maple Leafs in his image. THe excitement in Leafs Nation is growing and the big question in every fan’s mind right now should be: when will the puck drop?
Gary Bettman and the NHL’s official party line since the Tampa Bay Lightning raised the cup has been that training camps will pick up in mid-December and game one of the 2021 season will be held on January 1st. However, rumblings out of some virtual GM meetings last week and in the media lead me to believe that this start date may be pushed back.
Initially, the league had planned on hosting a pair of outdoor games: the Winter Classic in Minnesota and a, quote, “flashy showcase” set-up on Lake Louise in Alberta. Both of these planned events (as well as All-Star Week) have been cancelled, leading to speculation that the season opening may be pushed back as well.
The Future of the NHL
Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, in a recent guest appearance on the Steve Dangle Podcast, says he expects a February 1st start date. He went on to speculate that the often-rumored about “All-Canadian Division” will most likely become a reality.
Furthermore, there is growing speculation that the seven Canadian teams may even travel with their AHL affiliates, both to have easier access to injury call-ups (as all 3 of the Pacific Canadian teams have AHL teams based in the U.S.) and also to give the AHL some revenue boosts by arranging matinee games in NHL arenas (potential for tv broadcasts, as well as the distant possibility of limited fan attendance).
With the ongoing chaos in the United States, and the political administration’s abject failure to contain the spread of COVID, I don’t see any form of reality where the Canadian government allows NHL teams to flaunt the border closure and isolation rules, so we may indeed end up in a season where the 7 Canadian teams play each other a minimum of 13 times each, assuming a full 82-game season.
On that note, as of this moment, the NHL is still planning for a full regular season, how is this possible without running into the late summer or early fall again?
Sure, they could hyper-compress the schedule, allow for expanded rosters and mandate load-management to minimize the risk of complete player exhaustion, but the overall on-ice product will suffer. I see a reduction in games becoming more and more likely as time goes on, perhaps 50-60 games would be more feasible? Especially taking into consideration that the NHL wants to get back to their normal regular season schedule of October-April for the 2021-22 season.
Olympics next summer would mess with ratings, though their cancelation is a distinct possibility, and may even be likely. Since the NHL is primarily a gate-driven league that may not get any gate revenue depending on how both Canada and the U.S. deal with future waves of the coronavirus, I don’t see a world where they would willingly risk losing a massive share of the tv viewership ratings.
A piece of my own personal speculation: could the IIHL World Juniors be a factor as to why the NHL nudges back the start date? It would play into the philosophy of not competing for ratings (in Canada at least) and allow teams with highly touted prospects (such as Nick Robertson for the Toronto Maple Leafs) to get these kids some valuable and meaningful ice-time after a long layoff, just a thought.
A source within the NHL has stated that they’d like to get fans back in the arenas. Limited at first, sure, but in Canada that simply will not happen until a vaccine is widely available, so it may be a while before you attend an NHL game again.
Now, for the final question I’ll put out there: will they bubble again for the playoffs? If the virus is still not under control, I can’t see any other way to navigate the border crossings that would be necessary otherwise. They’ve already proven they can do it, and it works, so why mess with success?