The National Hockey League is under tremendous circumstances for the near future. The pandemic left the NHL scrambling for a solution to play during the crisis, and the league was able find a short-term solution with the playoff bubbles. While it was a tremendous success to award the Stanley Cup, the question now lies as to how the NHL will begin the 2020-21 season?

While commissioner Gary Bettman has gone on record saying he wants to play a full 82 game season, the chances of a full season are very unlikely. The league is aiming for a January 1 start date, but considering the ever-changing circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, any date is just a soft guess at this point in time. Some rumors have even circulated that some owners may not play the next season at all if fans cannot attend games in the short term future.

However, a cancellation is a worst case scenario, and if the situation improves with time, the league can find a way to play again. With the status of the NHL season up in the air, a report from 98.5 FM in Boston emerged that the minimum number of games that the NHL could have for next season is 48.

While the number seems relatively minuscule, it makes sense for a number of reasons. The start of the AHL season will be pushed back to a soft start date in February, and the NHL will have to push for a shortened year to keep a normal timetable heading into the 2021-22 season. Also, that number is equal to the number of games that were played in the lockout year of 2012-13.

As a result, the NHL has found ways to salvage as season, whether the circumstances are a lockout or a pandemic. Even though the year and circumstances are different, Bettman and company can find a way to make it work. However if the NHL is eager to find a solution, it can look back to the lockout year of 2012-13 for how to salvage a season. With this in mind, how can the NHL play the 2020-21 season in the midst of the pandemic?

Looking Back on 2012-13 Season:

When the NHL shortened its season due to CBA disputes, the season didn’t begin until January 19. The year wound up being 48 games and the regular season ended on April 28 with the postseason wrapping up on June 24. The average NHL playoff wraps up around the second week of June, so a delay to that degree won’t leave to much strain on the upcoming season.

Not to mention, the NHL modified the schedule for these circumstances. Even with 48 games, none of the games were inter-conference, or East vs. West, until the Stanley Cup Final. Although there are an now an odd number of teams in each conference, playing inside your conference only makes logistical sense, especially in these times. The NHL will want to limit travel due to potential spread of Coronavirus, and drawing a hard line between conferences will be a good move to prevent potential spread of the virus among NHL clubs, if the case presents itself.

 The Schedule:

When the NHL had 15 teams in each conference, the season had four games inside each team’s division and three inside the opposite division in in each conference. However, the league won’t have even conferences until the season after with Seattle joining as the 32nd team. If that’s the case, the NHL can allow each team to play four games inside its own division to account for 28 games. However, the remaining games with the opposite division will be interesting to decipher with 20 contests remaining among some seven or eight teams. A possible solutions is that the league can assign a fifth contest for a select group of teams inside each division, and that can allow the schedule to reach 16 for the opposite division games.

With the East having an even number of teams in each division, it will be easier to figure out if this is the case. However, the West is much more complex with an odd number of teams, the schedule should be similar in the Central. With the division having eight teams, the league can group two halves together for five games between four teams and four among the rest with the remainder among the Pacific. However, the Pacific has seven teams, making this scenario harder to organize. Every team will likely have to play each other three times with an extra game or two among select Central Division teams.  It will be much more difficult to make a schedule now than in 2013, but the NHL can use a geographic border nonetheless.

Of course the circumstances are much different for the NHL in this scenario. A global pandemic is nothing to take likely, and rules will all but likely be enforced for the league’s teams, players, and fans. However, the NHL was able to successfully pull of a season during the labor disputes, and the NHL can look back to that season to find a way to salvage hockey in early 2021. It will take work with the NHLPA to iron out all the details, but a floor of 48 games with conference games only makes plenty of sense for the 2020-21 NHL season.

Matthew Page

I am a first year student at Hofstra University and an avid Islanders fan. I have been writing for Drive4Five since March 2020. My family has been season ticket holders for the team since 2016, and hockey is my favorite sport. As I expand my knowledge in the field of Journalism, I am writing to express my love for the Islanders and the NHL.