2020-21 NHL Season

[JGibson]

The COVID-shortened NHL season is set to begin on January 13th with a 56-game regular season that will end on May 8th. As a result of the Canada-US Border being closed to nonessential travel, the divisions have been temporarily realigned.

The top 4 teams in each division will make the playoffs.

Teams are currently set to play in their own arenas (likely with either no fans or very limited amount of fans allowed), but could move to at least one neutral hub per realigned division should conditions change.


2020-21 Division Realignment:

• East: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals.
• Central: Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning.
• West: Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues and Vegas Golden Knights.
• North (Canadian): Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks and Winnipeg Jets.

2019-20 Thread: https://talkelections.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=337626.0

[JGibson]

A key hurdle has been cleared for the NHL season to begin, as the league and provincial governments have reached an agreement allowing all 7 Canadian teams to play at their own home rinks.

CBC.ca:

The NHL says it believes it has an agreement with provincial governments on the conditions for its Canadian teams to play out the 2021 season from their home markets.

"On the basis of our discussions in the past week, as well as our exchange of correspondence over the last 24 hours, we believe we are aligned and in agreement on the conditions on which each of our Canadian franchises can begin play in their own buildings for the start of the 2020-21 NHL season,'' deputy commissioner Bill Daly said on Thursday.

CBC News has confirmed the statement, as first reported by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

The seven Canadian teams will be grouped in one division and only play each other for the duration of the 56-game schedule, which is slated to begin Jan. 13.

[JGibson]

I am so so disappointed they separated Pittsburgh and Columbus in two different divisions. I really hope they were verse that. That was turning into a really cool rivalry

Feel the same too, except with the separation of the Blues and Blackhawks (and the Predators, Stars, and even the Red Wings to some extent) and the separation of the Bruins and Canadiens (necessitated by the closure of the US/Canada Border to nonessential travel). Thankfully, the Pens-Flyers and Pens-Caps rivalries were spared.

[JGibson]

The new, temporary divisions are OK. But why is Dallas in the Central then and St. Louis in the West?
That's really my only beef.

Hopefully the Preds can turn it around this year, but seems like the chemistry was missing last few years...maybe the right changes were made to fix that hopefully but it's a tough division.

Agree with you on why STL being in the West is an insult to their fanbase, as we won't be playing our three traditional rivals Chicago, Detroit, and Nashville.

[JGibson]

Who's ready for the NHL season to begin later today?

[JGibson]

Blues kicking off the season with a 4-1 win over the Avs. Sweet.

[JGibson]

The COVID postponements have hit the Avalanche.

[JGibson]

10 years ago today, the Eric Brewer trade to Tampa Bay got us Jordan Binnington in the 2011 NHL Draft. Binnington played a crucial role in helping the Blues win the Cup in 2019.

[JGibson]

How about that Blues-Sharks game that combined for 13 goals and a Binnington v. Dubnyk fight attempt? The Blues won 7-6. 

[JGibson]

How about Mike Hoffman tonight?! He saved the game with a defensive intervention to prevent an empty net goal that led to David Perron tying the game up 2-2 with about 45 seconds left in regulation to ensure that the Blues got at least one point. In OT, Hoffman, on a delayed penalty against the Kings, scored the game-winner to give the Blues a 3-2 OT win over the Kings.

[JGibson]

Starting next season, ESPN wins the right to half of the NHL national contract for 7 years. Uncertain is whether NBC will continue with its half.

Sportsnet.ca:

ESPN is believed to have reached a seven-year deal to become one of the league's media partners starting next season, according to multiple league and industry sources.

There was no confirmation from the NHL on an agreement that is expected to see ESPN get the rights to broadcast four Stanley Cup Finals between 2022 and 2028, plus streaming rights for Disney.

[JGibson]

My St. Louis Blues are choking badly. They better fix it, or they can kiss the playoffs goodbye.

[JGibson]

The NHL Trade Deadline has arrived.

Key trades:
- Sabres trade Taylor Hall to the Bruins
- Kings trade Jeff Carter to the Penguins.
- Blue Jackets trade Nick Foligno to the Maple Leafs.
- Blackhawks trade Mattias Janmark to the Golden Knights.

[JGibson]

Turner Sports (TBS/TNT) will get the B package for the NHL for 7 seasons, beginning next year. The Winter Classic, Stanley Cup Finals in odd years, and half the playoffs will be on Turner Sports' networks of TBS and TNT, and possibly TruTV.


Dan Rosen at NHL.com:

The NHL and Turner Sports announced a seven-year media rights agreement Tuesday that will have regular-season, Stanley Cup Playoff and Stanley Cup Final games televised on TNT and TBS starting next season and running through 2027-28.

[...]

Turner Sports, a division of WarnerMedia, joins The Walt Disney Co. and ESPN as the NHL's national media rights partners in the United States for the next seven seasons. The NHL, The Walt Disney Co. and ESPN announced a multiplatform media rights deal March 10.

[...]

As part of the agreement, Turner Sports networks will televise the NHL Winter Classic, the annual New Year's Day outdoor game, in all seven seasons of the deal.

It will televise all games in the Stanley Cup Final in 2023, 2025 and 2027, one conference final series each season, and half of the first two rounds of the playoffs, plus 72 regular-season games per season.

Scheduling and programming will be determined in the coming weeks, WarnerMedia News & Sports chairman Jeff Zucker said.

The Stanley Cup Final will be televised on ABC in 2022, 2024, 2026 and 2028 as part of the deal with The Walt Disney Co. and ESPN.

It has the rights to one conference final round per season, half of the first two rounds of the playoffs, 25 regular-season games on ABC or ESPN, and 75 national games that will stream on ESPN+ and Hulu.

In addition, they will stream more than 1,000 out-of-market games each regular season on ESPN+, which will replace NHL.TV.

[JGibson]

My St. Louis Blues have a decent chance at the 4th and final playoff spot in the West. Just a few weeks ago, the Blues were on the outside looking in.

[JGibson]

The St. Louis Blues are in the playoffs. About a month ago, there were serious doubts about whether we would get it at all. Alas, Arizona struggled and we mostly played well, and here we are now: in the playoffs.

[JGibson]

The 2021 NHL Playoffs are now officially here.

1st Round Matchups:
East: #1 Penguins v. #4 Islanders, #2 Capitals v. #3 Bruins
North: #1 Maple Leafs v. #4 Canadiens, #2 Oilers v. #3 Jets
Central: #1 Hurricanes v. #4 Predators, #2 Panthers v. #3 Lightning
West: #1 Avalanche v. #4 Blues, #2 Golden Knights v. #3 Wild



Bracket:
https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1393048422014459905

[JGibson]

My Blues got swept by the Avs tonight.

[JGibson]

Canadiens come back from a 3-1 series hole to knock out the Maple Leafs in 7.

[JGibson]

The final 4 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is here: Canadiens v. Golden Knights and Lightning (defending champs) v. Islanders. 


Winners go to the Final. 

[JGibson]

We have one of the two Stanley Cup Finals participants confirmed, as the Montréal Canadiens won Game 6 3-2 in OT. We await the winner of defending Cup champions Tampa Bay v. New York Islanders in Game 7 for the other spot.

[JGibson]

The Stanley Cup Final matchup is set: Defending Cup champs Tampa Bay Lightning against the Montréal Canadiens for the right to hoist the Lord Stanley trophy. If the Canadiens win, then it would be the first time since the 1993 Final that a Canadian-based team won it all (Canadiens).

[JGibson]

Blue Jackets goalie Matīss Kivlenieks died at the age of 24 due to chest trauma resulting from an errant fireworks blast.

TSN:

A medical examiner in Michigan says an autopsy has determined that Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died of chest trauma from an errant fireworks mortar blast, and not a fall as authorities previously reported.


The fire department and EMTs got to the private home shortly after 10 p.m. and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Meier said. The Oakland County Medical Examiner’s office reported preliminary autopsy results Monday afternoon.

Prior to the autopsy, police said Kivlenieks was believed to have slipped and hit his head on concrete while running from a malfunctioning firework.

[JGibson]

Tampa Bay Lighting are Back to Back Stanley Cup Champions...

And Patrick Maroon gets his three-peat (2019 Blues, 2020 and 2021 Lightning).

[JGibson]

Also, this is the final game to ever air on NBC, as ESPN/ABC/ESPN+ and TBS/TNT will take over NHL rights the next season.