That is certainly the case here in the two countries where the NHL is the most prominent; Canada and the United States. Sports have taken a backseat by necessity. For how long? Nobody knows.
Strange times indeed, ladies and gentlemen.
That being said, when a seismic shift happens and something seismic takes place, it usually means that changes will be be in response. With the recent postponement of the 2020 Summer Olympics,perhaps there is a window to move hockey from the Winter Games to the Summer Games.
There is a two-week window in the summer that would not force an NHL shutdown in-season during the month of February. Typically, when the NHL has participated in the Winter Olympics hockey tournament, there after after-effects on the league when play resumes. Participating players sometimes get worn down for the stretch drive. The rest head off on vacations with crunch time just a few weeks away after the usual February ending of the Winter Olympics.
For these reasons, hockey maybe better suited to have a July or August tournament. I say this only because it's being discussed that this year's the Stanley Cup Playoffs could possibly take place in July or August.
If that is being considered, I would have to take it that it may also be feasible to consider Olympic hockey play in the summer. This would allow in a sense players to stay in shape as they enter training camp but I think more importantly it would put the league in a unique position to keep the league active and not shut it down especially for events that take place in the middle of the night or very difficult to see live because of the time change.
Of course, these decision will come down, as all decisions do, to financial considerations and whether or not the NHL sees it as a viable alternative to negotiating a return to the Winter Olympics tourneys that we are so accustomed to.
As the current NHL season pauses runs deeper into the spring now that there is a nationwide extension of social distancing guidelines all the way through April -- with possible further extensions -- the possibilities of summer hockey increasingly may become the only feasible window in which to award the Stanley Cup for the 2019-20 season.
The silver lining to the dark cloud: there may be opportunities to experiment with an exploratory view of NHL players competing in the summer. It's a very interesting question and certainly something that I think the league should look into. If it were to happen, I think that is probably a good way to make the best of a bad situation. At minimum, it's an opportunity to investigate the idea and weigh the pros and cons.
Likewise, ending the regular season and going right to the playoffs with an expanded format (say, 20 or even 24 teams) might be an interesting experiment on a trial basis. Hopefully we get that opportunity. From the sound of things, the pandemic could get worse for awhile before things get better, and any predictions on when things start to truly get back to normal are guesstimates.
Be well, everyone!
