There are finally going to be some games in the NHL on Tuesday as three of the four scheduled contests are on tap.
It has not been a fun week for fantasy managers and hockey fans with the past eight days yielding only three games played.
But despite what some are saying, the NHL is doing the right thing postponing games.
While the NFL and NBA plow through their schedules, the games are not great to watch with so many players (stars included) being forced to miss games as they are in COVID protocol.
I tried to watch the Raptors-Cleveland game on Sunday and it was a blowout for Cleveland as they won 144-99 with Toronto missing all five starters. Because the Raptors were able to dress four of the 15 players on their roster, the NBA allowed them to make the trip to Cleveland to get the game in on the schedule.
And that is just one example. It is not fair to the fans who pay top dollar to see a game. Let’s say some family saved up their money and it was their first ever game to watch live. To watch what was in effect a G-League game at NBA prices is terrible and not the experience any league should want for their fans.
The NHL is fortunate to have the extra two weeks that they had off to go to the Olympics. They can make up plenty of games in that time-frame and give fans the quality they deserve rather than just getting in the game. There are so many teams that are still deep in COVID protocol that it is not fair to the franchise or to the fans.
Imagine missing the playoffs by a game just because you were forced to play a minor-league roster to get your game in. All leagues (with the exception of the NFL) have played a reduced schedule in at least one of the last two seasons. Not that it is going to happen, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if it had to happen one more time this year but I think there is more than enough time to get in the full schedule with so much of the season left to play.
Get the players healthy and back on the ice and then the schedule can be completed.
The NHL is doing the right thing and doing it the right way.
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Now that I am finished with my rant, here are a few notes from around the NHL.
Three more games were postponed this week as the back-to-back Dallas-Colorado contests on Wednesday and Friday will be played at a later date, as well as the Chicago-Winnipeg contest that was scheduled for Wednesday. That makes 70 games that have been postponed and 69 to be made up as one game has already been rescheduled and played. In a normal week, there are around 40-45 games played, so this is doable. As well, the NHL has requested home dates from all teams until May 1, which would extend the schedule by only two days. Again, not the worst thing in the world.
While there were many players going into COVID protocol Monday, there were plenty coming off it. In addition, the NHL and the Players Association agreed to have a taxi squad made up of six players until the All-Star game which is in Las Vegas in early February. That will help ease the stress of dressing a full team.
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After missing almost two months with an oblique injury and dealing with the passing of his father, Patrik Laine feels he is ready to return to action. … Roman Josi was placed in COVID protocol Monday but the Predators did get Ryan Johansen back, as well as Mikael Granlund. … David Perron and Robert Thomas practiced on Monday and are very close to returning from their injuries. … Mark Stone was re-injured a week ago in the last game played on the NHL schedule but the Golden Knights top player will be a game-time decision on Tuesday in Los Angeles. … The Lightning put Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brian Elliott on their COVID protocol list but could get Brayden Point (upper body) back on Tuesday while Nikita Kucherov (lower body) appears to be close behind. … Florida coach Andrew Brunette thinks that Aleksander Barkov (upper body) is ready to return to the lineup…Tristan Jarry went into COVID protocol and while Evgeni Malkin (off-season knee surgery) is ever closer to a return, he is unlikely to play Friday. … The Kraken have lost Brandon Tanev for the rest of the season with an ACL injury that will require surgery.
