It’s ‘business unusual’ for the National Hockey League.
After four and half months of a global health scare, empty buildings, blank TV screens and a risky re-start plan, 24 teams are finally back and raring to go.
When the Carolina Hurricanes take on the New York Rangers at noon Saturday in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, it will be the first Stanley Cup playoff games ever staged in August.
“You really are starting over,” said Canes’ head coach Rod Brind’Amour, whose team was doing well with points in four of five games when play halted on March 12. “Even though your systems aren’t all that different from where we were, that goes out the window.
“Everyone came back (to training camp) at different spots and we have new guys in the lineup. It’s a little bit of an unknown.”
Toronto and Edmonton are the respective East and West 12-team hub cities, thanks to their provinces keeping a lid on COVID-19. Eight teams in each conference will begin a best-of-five series this weekend, while the four top teams by division lead and points percentage embark on a separate round robin for future seeding.
All teams are in hotel/rink bubbles, potentially for weeks away from family and friends as the first three rounds are played with the best-of-seven conference final and championship moved to Edmonton with an early October completion date. There’ll be no fans in the stands, just piped in music and a light show.
But it’s the Stanley Cup we’re talking about. One player arriving in Canada briefly pondered what to fill in the ‘duration of stay’ box of his customs’ card and wrote 70 days, intending to go the distance, no matter what’s ahead. “For sure the (same playoff) intensity will be there,” said Carolina’s Jordan Staal of playing in empty venues. “The momentum shifts with (no) crowd and that might not be the same. But as soon as the puck drops, it’s going to be a battle.”
PATCHING BIG LINEUP HOLES
Victor Hedman’s absence for part of last year’s first round against the Columbus Blue Jackets contributed to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s shocking exit.
Now he might not be in the lineup for Monday’s round-robin opener against the Capitals. Scheduled to join the Bolts in Toronto in Friday after staying behind to deal with what the team calls ‘a personal matter’, the Norris Trophy finalist did not appear.
Sniper Steven Stamkos is back, however, from a lower body injury and practised Friday.
It looks like Carolina will have young Martin Necas in its lineup on Saturday, though the defence is missing Dougie Hamilton, who is unfit to play and Brett Pesce is still recovering from shoulder surgery. Boston’s Brad Marchand departed Thursday’s exhibition against Columbus after misfiring with a hit on Zach Werenski. Coach Bruce Cassidy had no availability Friday for an update, but didn’t think Marchand’s injury was serious.
SLOW STARTS MEAN NO STARTS
While most teams who lost their lone exhibition games wrote it off to rust, the Panthers were a lot more concerned. They took a 5-0 drubbing from the state rival Lightning on Wednesday, ahead of Saturday’s 4 p.m. Game 1 against the New York Islanders.
“That certainly got our attention,” said head coach Joel Quenneville. “We had two spirited practices with a sour taste in our mouths.”
Quenneville agreed that it will be harder to give unproductive or slow-starting players more rope in a shorter series without going to quick changes.
“You’re always playing to win that game. The waiting, waiting, waiting … sometimes you don’t have that patience.”
ICE CHIPS
Luke Schenn of the Lightning, a father of two kids, says he’s gone overtime on FaceTime since entering the Toronto bubble. His three-year-old, Kingston, “calls me every day, asking me if I’m coming home tomorrow” … The Flyers bought billboard space in Toronto to feature their edgy mascot Gritty, which all teams can’t miss ravelling to and from the practice arena, hotels and Scotiabank. “Every shot you take, every save you make, I’ll be watching you,” is the creepy caption … Newly signed Russian defender Alexander Romanov has finally joined the Canadiens for practice, but as his contract can’t be activated until the 2020-21 season, he can’t play against Pittsburgh … Four of the five youngest teams in the playoffs are in the East; the Rangers with an average age of 25.7, first-round foes Toronto and Columbus at 26.1 and Montreal 26.4 … Usually, Maple Leaf Square next to SBA would be jammed for a giant playoff viewing party on the video screen of the Leafs or a big game is on. But in the midst of Covid, the last thing the team wants to do is attract fans into a tight space, so they’ll just run Leaf and Raptor ads all day while the games are playing inside.
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