The Women’s World Hockey Championships in Novia Scotia were just canceled due to fear of the Coronavirus...

Will the NHL be affected?

I spoke to a source who has informed me the NHL is considering many possible scenarios for the remainder of the season…”It is what we have to do...it is what common sense dictates..

The Coronavirus impact is starting to be felt full-fledged with more and more offices setting up their employees to work from home and schools closing and having their students work online for the rest of the year. The amount of people attending sporting events is exponentially decreasing as worries increase.

No one knows if this is justified or an overreaction at this point, but all believe that "better safe than sorry" is the way to go. The NHL players fly chartered flights and have their own security lines, so the travel equation isn't really a big factor. And its expected that even if the airlines shut down commercial flights the chartered and private flights would continue..

However, the fans may or may not be willing to be in an arena full of people... and talks of screening attendees for fevers as you enter the arena may not be far off..

The NHL and all sports leagues are about to face huge decisions, and the hope is the NHL season and playoffs won't be directly affected...but that is very unrealistic. Once a player contracts the virus decisions will need to be made instantly…

You would hope that even if the fans stay home, the games can be played and the TV ratings would be huge. It's important for the entertainment industry to help people to still be able to enjoy their lives in periods of stress.

My source was quick to say that NO decisions have been made as of now, however, there has been talk of shortening the playoff series to a best-of-three or best-of-five...with the only travel day in the series...so in a best-of-five series, games 1 & 2 would be played at the lower seed, with 3,4, and 5 played in the home-ice advantage town…

What do you see happening?
Are you choosing NOT to go to games because of the Coronavirus?


Last night's Predictions: 2-4
Season So Far: 35-44
***********************
Tonight Predictions:
Points Predicted to Be Gained Tonight...
NYI 2 CAR 1
PIT 2 WSH 0
DAL 2 NSH 1
LAK 1 MIN 2
SJ 1 OTT 2
BOS 0 TB 2
FLA 2 MTL 1
NYR 2 NJ 0
PHI 2 BUF 0
EDM 2 CBJ 0
New Projected Final Standings

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