Let’s spend some time speculating about the potential reorganization for the 2021 season.

I’ve seen statements by Bettman the Troll that it won’t start until January, which suggests about 48 games or so.

I’ve also seen some rumors about reducing the COVID risk by realigning the League into a purely Canadian division and three or more American divisions. A seven-team division actually works out nicely: each team plays the others 2 times home and 2 times away (24 games), and then plays each of the American teams once (24 games), half home and half away. The Canadian teams can satisfy their travel requirement with two 6-game, two-week swings through the western and eastern parts of the U.S.

That leaves the 24 American teams. The problem with dividing them up into three 8-team divisions is that it’s difficult to arrange a reasonably intelligent schedule for a team to fit 48 games into groups of 7 (teams in own division) and 16 (others). One possibility is to have five six-team divisions. That way, each team would play the other teams in its division 6 times (30 games) and every other team once (18 games). This would allow a normal Stanley Cup tournament of 16 contenders: Playoff teams would be the top two teams in each division (including the Canadian one) and the four teams with the next best records.

Another, odder possibility is to have two 7-team American divisions and one 10-team American division. The two smaller groups would have the same schedule makeup as the Canadian division. The large group teams would play each intra-divisional team 3 times (27 games) and every other team once (21 games).

I haven’t done any analysis to see whether this works internally.

Thoughts and other input welcome.

Who do you think would finish first in an all-canadian division.

many interesting possibilties but i'd wait until at least December to start speculating since we don't have much to go off of right now

Well, if we wait until December, it'll be a done deal.

Toronto
Edmonton
Vancouver
Winnipeg
Montreal
Calgary
Ottawa

Interesting.

I have:

Toronto
Edmonton
Montreal
Calgary
Vancouver
Winnipeg
Ottawa

I'll preface this with a few things: I'm not trying to politicize this post and I'm assuming the league plays 48-ish games.

I think Canadian teams crossing the border in any capacity is fundamentally reliant on two things:

1. Biden wins the presidency
2. By virtue of #1, a successful virus mitigation plan is executed beginning the day Biden is inaugurated running through mid-February to early-March.

I don't believe a second term of Trump - and thus no legitimate virus mitigation - bodes well for any of the professional leagues. We know the players don't want to be stuck in a bubble for large swaths of time, and having paid some attention to the fallout from the lack of virus control in the World Series, I'm confident that neither the league nor the players association wants to move forward with the 2020-21 season so long as COVID-19 remains such a prevalent issue in the States.

The logistics and physical implications of the Canadian teams and their staffs crossing the border while the virus remains unchecked begets that travel has to be done in one, large go: returning back to Canada and self-isolating, even for a few days, does not fit in the parameters the league is going to establish in a condensed season. There isn't enough time. If, for example, all of the Canadian division games are played during this period (24 games, every second day, works out to just shy of 7 weeks), all seven teams could then look at travelling through the States to play the remaining 24 teams once.

This means teams in the Canadian division will play each other four times, then play one game against the rest of the league. The 8-team divisions would have to play each other 3 times, play the remaining teams once, and then play 4 more intra-division games. I believe this was a similar format to what the league executed during the lockout-shortened season.

I alluded to this earlier, but I think the League itself is reliant on those two points as well: we know the owners aren't making the kinds of profits they're expecting out of their investment. If the United States can get a reasonable footing in "flattening the curve", there's a high likelihood that the date Canada comes to town is when teams can start allowing reduced capacity seating in their arenas. This is the key piece for a league-inclusive restart.

If push comes to shove, the above conditions are not true, but the League opts to play the 2020-21 season, expect the Canadian division teams to play themselves 8 times and the 8-team divisions to play each other 4 times, the teams in the other divisions once, and 4 additional intra-divisional games.

1. Toronto
2. Edmonton
3. Montreal
4. Vancouver
5. Winnipeg
6. Calgary
7. Ottawa

Thanks, Beter. Great insight! I agree wholeheartedly.

What if the NHL decides to not have a season? It isn't really a terrible thing.

1) Cases are increasing, cities may strengthen protocols again/further.
2) Canada has strict border access regarding COVID-19.
3) No one wants to play in a bubble setting again.
4) We have seen it in the MLB, NFL, and NCAA Football seasons, many games have been cancelled due to COVID-19 exposure. Especially in the NCAA where several big/interesting games have been subject of cancellation/rescheduling/postponement, including Alabama-LSU, Notre Dame-Wake Forest, LSU-Florida, Wisconsin-Nebraska, Army-Air Force, and Louisville-Virginia, just to name a view.
5) Fan access will be limited.

the list goes on.

Given our complete inability to do anything seriously constructive about the pandemic prior to January 21, and limited ability after that date, I think you people in Canada are far better off without having us send hordes of people across the border.

Somewhat selfishly, I’m sort of hoping the NHL starts at some point mid-January, that way the World Juniors can finish before the NHL starts back up. Which would also be beneficial because the players get to stay with their families during Christmas and the Oilers get their facilities back for the start of the season.

The incoming US administration will likely take further measures on COVID so cross-border games could potentially be out of the question.

Still not a fan of the all-Canadian division but I'd rather there be hockey than no hockey.