The possibility of summer hockey is coming more into focus as the NHL tries to salvage its 2019-20 season. There is much to be worked out, and maybe nothing ultimately will come of it.
But a scenario described last week by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman seems to have legs.
“We’re hopeful,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong told the Post-Dispatch. “You plan for the best. And the best is to play. It gives us something to work forward to. There’s no harm in preparing to play, I know that.”
The latest — let’s call it “possibility” — calls for four pod cities hosting games, all NHL cities, as opposed to previous discussion about using arenas in non-NHL locales such as North Dakota and New Hampshire.
There would be eight teams playing in three of those cities and seven in a fourth — comprising the 31 NHL teams. There would be no fans in attendance. The players and team officials would be lodged in nearby hotels.
Three games would be played per day in those four arenas to complete the regular season.
“I think based on what the commissioner has said, if we come back and play, the likelihood of playing in front of fans is limited,” Armstrong said. “And if that’s the case, it’s safer for everyone to be in fewer locations than having 31 teams flying all across the country, or all across the continent — two countries.”
One early assumption is that teams in each pod city would be grouped by division. With the Central Division teams assembled in one city, the Pacific teams in another, and so on. But that’s not a certainty.
Scheduling games in a fair manner will be a headache. Each NHL team had between 11 and 14 games remaining to complete the 82-game regular season when play was suspended March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Blues have 11 games left — and of those 11, seven are against Eastern Conference teams, two against Pacific teams, and only two against Central foes (Minnesota and Colorado). The Blues wouldn’t play those 11 opponents — or at least not most of them — under the pod format.
“Whatever format they come up with is (simply) to play games,” Armstrong said. “You can’t look at it as what would’ve happened. That ship has sailed.
“You just travel to one city and play all your games. My understanding is they’re gonna put you in a pod, and you’re just gonna play those teams exclusively.”
Obviously, all sorts of things must be hashed out to make this happen in terms of the health and safety of players, coaches, team equipment and training staffs. Who else would be allowed in the arenas? What kind of quarantine and social-distancing policies will be put in place at team hotels?
And of course nothing happens without approval from local governments and the medical/science community.
“It’s a monumental task to even pull this off. That’s why they’re getting an early start on it,” Armstrong said.
The presumption is that these regular-season games would start in July.
“There’s a lot of hoops they gotta jump through testing-wise, making sure every day the tests are done,” Armstrong said. “You’re doing it in front of no fans because you want to have the greatest likelihood of no one getting sick.”
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As for the Blues, they seem ready — maybe even eager — for an opportunity to defend their title even if it means playing in July and on into August, with no fans.
“We’d be defending our Stanley Cup championship, so I think it would be nice,” forward Sammy Blais said. “If we have to play without any fans, I think it’s gonna be hard, but we’re gonna have to find a way to be able to (play).”
Last week on a Blues’ Happy Hour videoconference with season-ticket holders, defenseman Colton Parayko was asked about hockey without fans.
“For sure, fans do have some sort of, I would say a little bit of a factor in the game,” Parayko said. “That’s why we call it home-ice advantage. That’s what it’s there for. But if that’s what it takes to continue, that’s what it takes to make everyone safe, then we’ll just have to follow the guidelines.”
The newest Blue, defenseman Marco Scandella, best summed up what a return to hockey would mean for himself and the team.
“It’s gonna be tough to say: ‘Let’s just scratch this season,’” Scandella told the Post-Dispatch. “I feel like everyone’s worked hard to get to this point. For me, we have to finish. I feel like we have to find a way to play. Even if it’s without fans. It’s not gonna be that fun, but I feel like we owe it to hockey.
“If it’s safe and we’re allowed to do it, I feel like everyone wants to play. You only have so many chances to win a Stanley Cup.”
But Scandella also realizes a renewed wave of the coronavirus in the summer “would be terrible.”
“Say a team would get the coronavirus,” Scandella said. “What would they do? Just delay the playoffs? But if there’s a way to do it safely and test safely, and the league approves it, governments approve it, I feel like everyone just wants to get back to playing.”
There would need to be some buildup prior to playing games, about three weeks of practice time, Bettman said. Perhaps preceded by small-group workouts. Shelter-in-place rules have prevented NHL players from getting on the ice, but Parayko makes it sound like that factor is a overstated.
“We’ve definitely been working out, making sure our cardio’s up,” he said during the Happy Hour. “So we’re staying in shape and fit. But in terms of the skating, I feel like we’re gonna pick it up in no time.
“We get one or two skates in there and it’ll be like we’re in midseason form I think.”
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Edmonton, St. Paul, Minn., and Raleigh, N.C., already have been mentioned as possible pod cities for the resumption of play.
The first requirement obviously is a place that is not a coronavirus hot spot. A practice facility or facilities would be needed for the teams, and hotels in close proximity to the arena where games are played is a plus.
So why not St. Louis? The metro area is not a COVID-19 hot spot, at least not at this time.
The recent renovation work at Enterprise Center has made it much more presentable and functional.
The St. Louis Union Station Hotel (nearly 600 rooms) and the Red Lion Hotel (nearly 300) are both within two or three blocks of Enterprise.
In terms of practice rinks, the new Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights has three rinks and the new Maryville University Hockey Center in Chesterfield has two.
Additionally, St. Louis and the Blues have shown they can handle high-level NHL events, be it the Winter Classic, a Stanley Cup games, and the All-Star Game.
Although he thinks St. Louis would have a lot to offer as a pod city, Armstrong said: “Chris Zimmerman, that’s his area. Those are things that are way out of my pay grade.”
Zimmerman, the Blues’ president and CEO, said the Blues are indeed interested.
“If the NHL pursues this plan when play resumes, we would love for them to consider St. Louis and Enterprise Center to host games,” Zimmerman said via text.
He declined further comment.
When asked if the league had contacted or had discussions with St. Louis, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly replied via email: “Not really inclined to turn our due diligence into a public process.”
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Prior to the start of training camp last season, Armstrong said he felt the window of opportunity for a Cup run was starting to open again after missing the playoffs entirely the previous season. That window opened wide and the Blues jumped through, all the way to the first Cup in franchise history.
If hockey doesn’t resume this season, the Blues will lose a year of having that window open with nothing to show for it. In the era of the salary cap, nothing lasts forever.
“You want to be cognizant of the fact that we’re a luxury item,” Armstrong said. “There’s another four million people that applied for unemployment. So I don’t want to come off like ‘poor St. Louis Blues, they don’t get a chance to defend the Stanley Cup.’ There’s a lot bigger issues at play here.
“But if we can just provide some normalcy as a league for people in society, I think that’s our responsibility.”
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