from Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun,
And unlike the compressed schedule of 1994-95, it won’t be easy to chop and repackage.
When a three-and-a-half-month lockout forced the league to a shortened season that year, it was able to salvage 48 of 84 regular-season games and have a full playoff that ended June 24 when New Jersey won the Stanley Cup. This time, with the league setting Thursday as the deadline to play 82, it’s more complicated.
“We were scrambling then, but I think it could be harder now,” said a team executive who has been through all three lockouts.
“For one, you have a lot of teams that now share their building with basketball and can’t use the dates they want. Look at the Los Angeles Kings — there are two NBA teams also in there (the Lakers and Clippers) at the Staples Center.”
The NHL has also grown by four teams since the last time it was faced with a shortened schedule, with the arrival of Nashville, Columbus, Minnesota and Atlanta/Winnipeg.
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