How would shortened NHL schedule be arranged?
The NHL lockout is not over yet. Things could still implode. Even so, it still seems more likely than not that an agreement will be reached soon to salvage a shortened 2012-13 season.
When the NHL lost half of the 1994-95 season to a lockout, the league created a 48-game schedule starting in mid-January. Back then, there were 26 teams(14 in the Eastern Conference, 12 in the Western Conference) and four conferences. In 2012, with 30 teams in the league and six conferences, a longer schedule will be necessary when (and if) the current lockout ends.
In order to save time and reduce travel costs, there would not be any inter-conference play during the regular season. This was also the case in 1994-95. In a full regular season, every team plays a slate of 64 intra-conference games with an even split of home and road games with each opponent; a total of six games apiece against each of the other teams in the same division and four apiece against the remaining teams in the same conference.
However, it doesn't sound as if a 64-game regular season will be feasible even if the lockout gets settled today or tomorrow. The league does not want to extend the playoffs into July. Teams will need a period of at least 10 days to assemble all of their players and hold a brief training camp. There is also an issue of rescheduling sufficient open dates at the arenas.
The unofficial word yesterday was the season would start around Jan. 1 and would likely be a 56-game in-conference schedule. I presume that would mean every NHL team will play four games apiece against each team in the conference. I'd also expect that there will be a lot of home-and-home sets and regionally based road trips (for example, playing the Hurricanes, Panthers and Lightning in sequence or the three New York metropolitan clubs).
To this point, I have not heard anything about realignment this season. However, that issue absolutely must be addressed, especially if the next CBA will be an eight to 10 year agreement. Currently, teams such as the Winnipeg Jets (still stuck in the Southeast Division) or the Dallas Stars (Pacific Division) are at a disadvantage by having to travel long distances even for divisional road games.
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Flyers Injury Updates
Now that end of the lockout may be close at hand, the status of injured players could become an issue in the days and weeks leading up to a season opener. Every team must deal with this to varying degrees. Here's a look at the status of Flyers players who have recently dealt with significant injuries:
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Claude Giroux: Yesterday in Ottawa, Giroux skated for the first time since suffering a neck injury as the result of a questionable hit by Krefeld Penguins forward Boris Blank in a DEL game on Dec. 16.
Giroux, who was briefly hospitalized in Germany and underwent specialized testing in Atlanta after returning to North America, reportedly does not have a concussion. Even so, he could not put a timetable on his readiness to play -- either for the Flyers or Eisbären Berlin -- after his workout yesterday.
Depending on how quickly he recovers, he may or may not be ready for a Flyers training camp. Barring setbacks, I would think he would not miss much, if any, NHL game action. However, I suspect this will become a major topic of conversation (and much hand-wringing) among Flyers fans if he's not declared ready to play ahead of the start of a camp in Voorhees.
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Andrej Meszaros: Coming off of delicate back surgery that knocked him out of the stretch drive and all but the final game of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Meszaros suffered a major injury of a different sort late in the summer. While working out off the ice in his native Slovakia, Meszaros tore his Achilles tendon.
The defenseman has rehabbed diligently and reportedly stands a good chance of being able to play ahead of the playoffs this season; potentially even in the relatively early stages of a shortened season.
Keep in mind, however, that the type of injury Meszaros sustained often takes up to a full year for a player to fully recover. Discretion may be the better part of valor here, especially when you consider that he has only played one game since March 1 of last season.
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Andreas Lilja: Lilja underwent hip surgery late in the summer. The initially stated timetable for his full recovery was mid-December. However, the Flyers disputed that and said he'd likely be ready in late October to early November.
A cynic might wonder if the team's more optimistic pronouncement had just a smidgen to do with the fact that injured players must be paid in full even during a lockout until they are cleared to play. Well, lo and behold, here we are on December 6 and the original timetable Lilja was given has proven to be the correct one.
The veteran defenseman has been working out at practice with the Phantoms. He is now close to being ready for clearance.
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Chris Pronger: There has not been an official update on Pronger in several months. What is known is that the player continues to suffer from bouts of post-concussion symptoms, though reportedly there was some progress in terms of reduced frequency. He has moved back to the St. Louis area with his family. The chances of him being able to play NHL hockey again are virtually nil.
It remains to be seen if there will be any changes in the NHL's over-35 contracting rules and/or long-term injured reserve rules in a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
In the now-expired agreement, Pronger's salary would count against the Flyers' cap if he were to announce his retirement. It would not matter that the retirement was due to a career-ending injury that had nothing to do with his age. In order to avoid his cap hit on their in-season cap, Pronger would have to remain on the roster. The Flyers would then have to place him on long-term injured reserve each season for the remainder of his contract, which runs through 2016-17.
There has been talk of an amnesty provision being part of a final CBA. If the over-35 rules remain unchanged, Pronger would be a potential amnesty candidate. I don't think the Flyers would use an amnesty option on
Ilya Bryzgalov for the simple reason that
Michael Leighton is the only other NHL-ready goaltender in the entire system right now. I'll discuss Bryzgalov's situation in the days to come following a lockout resolution.
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Marc-Andre Bourdon: Bourdon's current status is a bit of a mystery. Last Saturday in Glens Falls, the Phantoms defenseman was a late scratch from the game. The official reason was an illness. No one batted an eye at the time, because it's very common for a player to come down with the flu and simply not feel well enough to play or practice for a day or two.
As of yesterday, however, Bourdon had not yet returned to practice. Hopefully there will be a little more clarity in the next couple days. Although Bourdon scored a goal in last Friday's game, he played one of his worst overall games of the season. When a struggling game is followed by missing the next game and multiple practices thereafter, there is a natural cause for suspicion that there may have been an injury as well as (or instead of) illness.
Last season, Bourdon dealt with suspected but never officially diagnosed concussion issues from mid-February onward. He returned for the start of the NHL playoffs but then got injured again in his first game. He was fine by the early summer months, however.
Early this season with the Phantoms, Bourdon missed two games with an upper-body injury. After a slow start, he turned in a string of solid games until the recent setback. Hopefully, all he has now is just a particularly vicious strain of the flu that has taken the better part of a week to work out of his system. I suspect there's a little more to it.
Yesterday, according to a Twitter post by Saratogian reporter Michael Cignoli, Phantoms coach
Terry Murray said that he didn't think Bourdon would be able to play this week, but didn't totally rule him out.
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Jakub Voracek: The Czech winger missed a month with a sprained knee as the result of an injury suffered in a KHL game with Lev Prague. He returned about a month ago, and is now fine. He reportedly does not need to wear a knee brace.
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Wednesday Results Roundup and Thursday Games
The European leagues go on an international tournament break hiatus after this weekend. Assuming there is a settlement to the NHL lockout within the next few days, the Flyers' contingent of players in Europe will be playing their final overseas games in the next couple days before returning to North America.
* KHL:
Jakub Voracek sealed Lev's 4-2 win against Torpedo yesterday with a breakaway empty net goal in the final 31 seconds of regulation. He skated 15:11 of ice time in the game. Lev is on Slovakia on Saturday to play Slovan Bratislava.
* KHL:
Ruslan Fedotenko did not record a point but logged 20:26 of ice time in Donbass Donetsk's 2-1 win over Trakor Chelyabinsk. Donbass has a road game tomorrow against Metallurg Magnitogorsk in what will be the Donetsk team's final game before the schedule break.
* SM-liiga:
Max Talbot assisted on a late-game empty net goal in Ilves Tampere's 3-0 derby victory over archrival Tappara Tampere. Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Anders Lindbäck recorded his second straight shutout for Ilves; this one was a 37-saver. Ilves has a road game on Friday against Sami Kapanen's KalPa Kuopio club.
* Allsvenskan:
Matt Read will play his final home game and next-to-last match for Södertälje SK today when the team teams on Oskarshamn. He is slated to play his final game on Saturday in a road match against Djurgården. However, if the NHL lockout is settled by Friday, I suspect he (and Cam Fowler) will sit out the game on Saturday.
* DEL:
Danny Briere and Eisbären Berlin have a road game tomorrow against the Iserlohn Roosters. An NHL settlement today could keep him off the ice or, alternatively, it could be his final DEL game if there's an NHL settlement by the weekend.
* Bundesliga:
Bruno Gervais and the rest of the Heilbronn Falken have a road game tomorrow against Eispiraten Crimmitschau. If there is no NHL settlement by Sunday, Gervais may play in a home game against Dresden Eislöwen. Thereafter, the team is off until next Friday.
* KHL: CSKA Moscow has a much anticipated game tomorrow against Dynamo Moscow. Although coach Valeri Bragin never names a starting goaltender ahead of the game, it seems more likely that usual CSKA starter Rastislav Stana will get the nod over
Ilya Bryzgalov regardless of the NHL situation. However, Bryzgalov has played well in each of his last two starts.
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Hartnell vs. JVR for Hurricane Sandy Relief
As part of the ongoing effort to raise money for relief efforts from Hurricane Sandy, Flyers forward
Scott Hartnell and former Flyers forward
James van Riemsdyk are taking part in a Power of 2 online head-to-head competition.
Garden State native van Riemsdyk is representing the New Jersey relief fund, while Hartnell (who captained the New Jersey/Philadelphia team) at the recent Operation Hat Trick fundraiser) will represent the Empire State fund that goes to benefit affected areas in the New York area.
All fans can participate by making a contribution to one player's fund or the other. The "losing" player in the fund-raising competition has agreed to go holiday gift shopping for the winner while wearing full hockey hear. Thus far, JVR is winning the competition, which runs for 12 more days.
For more information, and to make a contribution to one (or both) of the relief funds,
click here.
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