I’ve got word from the league that the date of return for hockey in Taiwan has been set! May 31st we’ll all be heading back to the Taipei Arena to continue our season! Isn’t that exciting?!!!
What?! What do you mean that’s not the news you were expecting? Hockey IS coming back! To Taiwan…
HA! I’m just busting your balls. The real news I got today is far less positive than that from a hockey fan’s perspective.
A source close to an unnamed NHL hockey club informed me to get ready for October. The NHL is trying to get a season going, but word out of the offices is that lots of players are voting against it. 3.5 months away from their families is too much and a lot of players don’t want it.
This tweet by TSN’s Ryan Rishaug seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Blue-Skying some potential tweaks to the game with a medical expert to allow play during a pandemic. See below for a few ideas and a quote from Bill Daly on the NHL's willingness to entertain potential changes. pic.twitter.com/Stdrl8gvZV
— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) May 11, 2020
Can you blame the players for voting against a return this year if those were the terms? That’s not even hockey at that point. Can it even be considered a sport?
It sounds like the players are willing to accept the financial consequences of this choice. Meaning, they’re looking at an escrow of possibly 30% or more.
I do wonder about the cap though? Will it stay flat at $81.5 and for how long? Will the league and the PA come to an agreement that will see them chip away at that escrow over a number of seasons? Could we see up to two compliance buyouts if the cap does decrease?
I’ve felt all along that they should’ve canceled the season and started concentrating on the next one. There’s this $1B number getting thrown around and I have a hard time believing a professional sports organization whose fanbase is overwhelmingly based in North America is going to lose more money than the English Premier League… The scramble to try and recoup as much money as possible has seemed to be an exercise in futility in my opinion. Everybody is getting hit, not just professional sports franchises. If they were all that concerned about money, they’d have found a way to open up some revenue streams during this pause. Esports anybody?
That’s beside the point though. If the NHL shuts it down right now then teams can go about their business as usual and the draft won’t be the shit show that it’s gearing up to be. Teams can trade and sign players again and everybody simply gets a longer off-season which I’m betting there are players that need some extra time to rehab or recover from surgeries.
On the other hand…
I got to watch UFC 249 over the weekend and there were guys bleeding all over the place during that event. They were breathing on each other, spitting everywhere, shaking hands and hugging. You can’t tell me that hockey can’t go ahead if the UFC is holding fight cards now.
To add to that, soccer is on its way back to Europe. Officials in the UK have given the green light to resume the season behind closed doors. Now, that’s a league that is truly followed around the globe. If they can get going, why can’t hockey?
I know, my tune has changed a bit here but I don’t feel hypocritical. Time has given us the ability to gather new information and I feel like if some regions aren’t being affected by the virus in a major way, then perhaps they should get people back to work in those areas. There’s no need to have people sitting at home if they’re healthy and there are travel restrictions in place that would limit the risk of being exposed to this virus.
Stay safe folks and hopefully my source is wrong and hockey will be back sooner than later!
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