Buckle up. The NHL’s mad dash to a mid-January puck drop could soon begin.
The NHL and NHL Players’ Association reached a tentative agreement on Friday night to begin a 56-game regular season on Jan. 13 with teams hosting games in their own home arenas, wherever possible.
Training camps would open on Jan. 3, with no plan for exhibition games, and the seven non-playoff teams from last season permitted to start three days earlier on New Year’s Eve.
The regular season would tentatively end on May 8. Playoffs would follow with the Stanley Cup to be awarded by the first week of July.
But like seemingly everything in 2020, those 2020-21 critical dates remain fluid. It is possible that the two parties mutually agree to push the dates back a week or two given the holiday time crunch and still skyrocketing COVID-19 numbers.
That’s because so much remains in-flux, including required layers of approval.
The agreement will need to be formally ratified by both the NHL’s Board of Governors and the NHLPA’s Executive Board.
The NHLPA’s Executive Board verbally supported moving forward with the agreed upon terms on Friday night, pending review of the details once papered. The NHL’s Board of Governors is expected to vote on Sunday or Monday.
But perhaps the most critical sign-off required is in the hands of Canada’s five provincial health authorities, which have jurisdiction on whether NHL games can be played in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.
The fate of the in-demand, all-Canadian division rests in those hands. Who wouldn’t love each Canadian team squaring off nine or 10 times apiece in 196 glorious one-anthem matchups?
The biggest hurdle yet remains to be cleared.
The NHL and its seven Canadian clubs have been in detailed discussions with their provincial and regional health authorities all week, massaging and re-working protocols in an attempt to gain approval to play. That approval has not been granted, raising significant question marks about the feasibility of the division.
One of the big sticking points has been whether NHL players – who will be travelling on chartered flights and likely not permitted to leave the team hotel except otherwise to play – will be subject to potential intra-provincial quarantine restrictions if enacted.
But the NHL remains optimistic that all stakeholders involved can be satisfied as to the safety and well-being of teams and players as well as the public’s health. They are expected to re-engage in discussions on Saturday afternoon.
If they can be, Canada will be guaranteed one team makes it to the NHL’s final four for the first time since Winnipeg in 2018. The first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs would be pure divisional play, with the first four teams in each division qualifying, followed by the four division winners squaring off in the semifinals. The semifinals will be seeded by regular season points.
If those provincial health authorities cannot be satisfied, well, then the NHL and NHLPA will have to consider alternatives, including a hub city in Edmonton – or potentially moving all seven Canadian teams to the United States for the season.
For now, at least, the NHL and NHLPA have nailed down details and transition rules, subject to ratification:
> NHL players will be paid 72 per cent of their published salaries in 2020-21. Twenty per cent will be taken off the top to repay owners for the revenue shortfall that saw players collect more than their allotted 50-50 share; then another 10 per cent of that 80 per cent remaining will be deferred, to be repaid beginning three years later in installments.
> Players may choose to opt-out from the 2020-21 season if he or an immediate family member is considered part of certain high-risk categories. Any player who chooses to opt-out will not be paid and his team holds the option of tolling (or carryover) his contract for one year.
> Rosters will be capped at the usual 23 men with an $81.5 million salary cap. Each team will be permitted to carry a four to six player “taxi squad,” which includes a mandatory third goaltender. All 29 (maximum) players will practice and travel with the team.
> For all salary cap intents and purposes, the taxi squad will be treated like the AHL. Players will require waivers to be sent down to the taxi squad from the active roster. Players on the taxi squad will also be paid an AHL salary if playing on a two-way contract.
> Pending provincial health approval, the NHL’s four divisions will be re-aligned and re-named for 2020-21:
– Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg. – Boston, Buffalo, New Jersey, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington. – Carolina, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Florida, Nashville, Tampa Bay. – Anaheim, Arizona, Colorado, Los Angeles, Minnesota, San Jose, St. Louis, Vegas.
If the seven Canadian teams end up temporarily moving to the United States, then the NHL will need to realign again.
Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
