from Damien Cox at the Toronto Star,

More and more, it seems this NHL season is likely to be oddly-shaped and anything but symmetrical. Teams could end up playing different numbers of games against different groupings of teams in different circumstances, and almost certainly the schedule will be unbalanced, particularly if Canadian teams don’t play U.S. teams.

Fans will accept that to some degree, although the television numbers suggest interest is plummeting. We’re long past the point of arguing about the legitimacy of any NHL season under the coronavirus cloud. It’s whatever they can achieve safely. That makes you wonder, if it’s all going to be a jumble anyway, perhaps the NHL should go all the way and make the Stanley Cup final a Canada vs. U.S. affair.

No idea how you’d make the schedule work. But pitting the best Canadian team against the best U.S. team for the Cup would certainly create interest. At this point, with revenues having already taken a massive beating, keeping the customers connected and interested is about all the NHL can hope to achieve.

We’re at least a year away from a normal NHL season. Maybe two years. So the NHL should make this winter into whatever it has to be.

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