Returning off a holiday break in the NHL schedule, most fans had hoped to see a return of a semi-regular NHL schedule. Little did we know what was in store. The NHL announced that they would be postponing games that were being held in Canadian markets due to a restriction in attendance capacity. There is now a total of 80 games postponed so far this season.
We all know why these games are being canceled; money, NHL players, and owners do not want to play in empty arenas and continue to bleed money. As Sean Shapiro tweeted earlier today, “For a rough idea, those nine games without fans would likely cost the league and players around $30 million in HRR”. There is no appetite around the league to make these debts worse, especially after the NHL has started to criticize players about backing out on their CBA deal and allowing them to participate in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
NHL schedule-makers are going to have to get creative to finish this season. Some teams like the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders still have over 55 games to play in just over 100 days left in the season. Odds are the NHL will find a way to fill the previous Olympic break with regular-season games to help balance the end-of-season workload.
While we know this is not the end of postponed games, we all hope that the Canadian border will remain open for NHL hockey, and we do not see the all-Canadian division come back mid-season.
Please do check back in with us as we follow this topic. This story will be updated with the freshest information.
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