NHL season suspended

[OHHS old timer]

The NHL suspended its regular season today, following the lead of the NBA....

[VetteMan]

The NHl says a total of 26 players have reported testing positive for the coronavirus since voluntary workouts began on June 8th. The league says it's aware of 11 other players testing positive outside the voluntary workout protocol. The league and the players are in the final stages of agreeing to resume the NHL season.

[VetteMan]

The NHL Players Union has announced tentative plans to resume play. The NHL and the NHL Players Association have agreed to a tentative agreement this past Monday to return to play this season, and extend their collective bargaining agreement by 4 more years. The NHL is going straight to the playoffs with 24 teams resuming play. Those teams will travel to one of two "Hub' cities July 26th for exhibition games. The qualifying round would begin August 1st. The agreement needs two-thirds approval by the owners, and on the Union side a majority of the 31 representative executive board full player membership.

[VetteMan]

Here is the NHL Stanley Cup Qualifiers schedule. This is the day-by-day and the series-by-series schedule for the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers. All Eastern Conference games will be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, where as the Western Conference games will be played at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The top 4 teams in each conference, based on points percentage, will then play a 3 game round-robin, and the # 5-12 seeds will play in 8 best-of-5 series. The winners of those series will advance to the 1st Rd of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the 4 teams from the round-robin. If this isn't confusing enough, I've gotten a headache in just posting it.

[VetteMan]

NHL players will return to the Olympics in 2022 and 2026. Participation is pending an agreement between the NHL, NHL Players Association, International Olympic Committee and the International Ice Hockey Federation. The NHL would participate for the first time since 2014. Carolina Hurricane forward Justin Williams said, the best players are out there, and I think that it's great for the game of hockey. The Olympics are a special event in itself, and having the NHL players there, you love to see the best on best, and that's pretty special.

[VetteMan]

The NHL Chicago Blackhawks will continue to use the team nickname. They said that it honors a Native American leader who has been an inspiration to generations. The Chicago Blackhawks name and logo symbolices an important and historic person, Black Hawk of Illinois' Sac and Fox Nation, whose leadership and life has inspired generations of Native Americans, Veterans, and the Public. We recognize there is a fine line between respect and disrespect, and we commend other teams for their willingness to engage in that conversation. In moving forward, we are committed to raising the bar even higher to expand awareness of Black Hawk and the important contributions of all Native American people.

[VetteMan]

As with everything these days, The NHL-2020 playoffs are going to be unlike anything that we have ever seen before. Following a four month pause ( due to Covid-19 virus ) 24 teams will be gathering for a two-week training camp. Exhibition games will be played on July 28-30, and playoff qualifying series begin on August 1st. I'm not really sure how many players possibly have opted out, as far as returning to play in the playoffs. Determining how the layoff will affect certain teams and players as well, makes predicting how things might go just about impossible.

[VetteMan]

Everything that you might need to know about The NHL Bubble. Toronto and Edmonton are about to become home to 24 NHL squads, all with the same mission: Win the elusive 2020 Stanley Cup. But just how different might this tournament be ? The NHL received the final rosters from the 24 teams scheduled to play in the 2020 postseason. Teams can bring a maximum of 31 players, and up to 52 people in total.

[VetteMan]

Edmonton's Mike Green and Vancouver's Sven Baertschi are opting out of the NHL playoffs. Dallas defenseman Roman Polak is not reporting for now, and Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos is not reporting at full strength. In the aftermath of a deal being struck to resume the NHL season on Aug 1st, Green and Baertschi on Sat joined Calgary defenseman Travis Hamonic among players choosing not to participate in the expanded 24 team playoffs due to the uncertainties surrounding Covid-19, and after much consideration, I've decided for deeply personal family health reasons not to participate in the return to play, Green said in a statement released by the Oilers. I'm not really sure how many players before have already opted out as far as playing in these playoffs.

[VetteMan]

The pursuit of a Stanley Cup is as familiar as a well-worn pair of hockey skates for a player such as nick Foligno. This year it's the journey, not the ultimate goal, that will be decidedly different for the Blue Jackets Captain, his teammates and their fellow players across the NHL. In agreeing to return to the ice. go through team workouts and then eventually enter an artificial bubble while going through constant medical checks to guard against Covid-19, 19 members of the 24 teams that will open the postseason in early Aug, are buying into a concept unlike any other in league history.

[VetteMan]

When the season began, no one in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization was sure that either one of the two top goaltenders could be an everyday starter in the NHL. Joonas Kirpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins seized on their oppertuniyies to play, and the tandem helped lift the injury ravaged Blue Jackets into an Eastern Conference wild-card playoff spot. By the time the season was halted in Mar because of coronavirus, both of the two 26yr old's were with new contracts, and were battling it out for the starting spot again during an abbreviated training camp ahead of a playoff qualifying series against Toronto beginning Aug 2nd. Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella said he's comfortable letting the goalie derby play out through most of the camp. They both deserve the opportunity the way they played this year.

[VetteMan]

The Columbus Blue Jackets really appreciate the support that they have received from the 5th line during summer camp. Blue Jackets fans have braved the hot temperatures and the rain to watch practice from outside the last two weeks. The fans have been standing outside of the Ohio Health Ice Haus, trying to watch through large banks of windows at the teams practice facility. They have been holding up signs for the players to see, some saying that they wished that they could be inside, but that this was better than nothing. A lot of the Blue Jackets players have said that they really appreciate the support from the fans. The Blue Jackets really have their work cut out for themselves in this best 3 out of 5 series, as Toronto has been one of the better teams in the NHL this season.

[VetteMan]

The Lady Blue Jackets ( Wives of the players ) have donated 18,500 dollars to local organizations in the past few months. The ladies have also given 700 meals to the Ronald McDonald House of Central Ohio. Janell Foligno, wife of Blue Jacket Captain Nick Foligno , said that they want to spread as much positivity as possible in these uncertain times and show the Columbus community that we are behind them and try to support as much as we can. Our fundraising efforts are always put forth to reach individuals in need and what better time than now.

[VetteMan]

The Columbus Blue Jackets are a team that many thought would finish in last place this season. They were able to surprise a lot of people by being very competitive this season, despite a bunch of devastating injuries that included 40-goal man Cam Atkinson. The Blue Jackets are led by coach John Tortorella, and are very happy to keep things tight, as they led the NHL in one goal wins this season. They were bottom 5 in offense and top 5 in defense. The way that playoff hockey tends to go at times, it could prove to be an advantage for the Jackets. The Jackets are a heavy, physical team, and that style has proven to be successful of late. Toronto has a big advantage on offense, but if the Jackets are allowed to play their style, and by all means stay out of the penalty box, it could very well end up as a very competitive best 3 out of 5 series.

[VetteMan]

The Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Boston Bruins 4-1 in their exhibition game Thurs night. Boone Jenner, Zach Werenski, Gustav Nyquist and Alexander Texier all had goals for the Blue Jackets. I may be wrong but this may be the only exhibition game that they will play, as they will now start the best 3 out of 5 series against the Toronto Maple Leaf's to try to work toward winning the Stanley Cup.

[VetteMan]

The Columbus Blue Jackets will start their best 3 out of 5 playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leaf's on Sunday, Aug 2nd, followed by game two on Aug 4th on a Tues, by game three on Thurs Aug 6th, by game four on Fri Aug 7th, and game 5 on Sun Aug 9th.

[VetteMan]

The underdog Columbus Blue Jackets last year swept a very good Tampa Bay Lighting team in the first Rd of the 2019 NHL playoffs, and the Blue Jackets will once again be heavy underdogs against the expensive star-studded Toronto Maple Leaf's. From a sheer pressure standpoint, especially with the whole series being played in Toronto, one could picture a still fairly young Maple Leaf team start to grip Their sticks a little tight if they struggle to break through against the Blue Jackets. The Media can be very unkind sometimes when you are the heavy favorite, and then things don't go as planned.

[VetteMan]

In game one of their Stanley Cup Playoffs qualifying series, the Blue Jackets earned a hard fought 2-0 victory over the home team Toronto Maple Leaf's on Sunday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. After a feeling out stretch for both teams, a goaltending battle erupted in the 2nd period, as both Columbus's Joonas Korpisalo and Toronto's Frederik Andersen traded 10-bell saves at times as the game remained scoreless through 2 periods. Cam Atkinson's goal early in the 3rd period gave the Blue Jackets the lead, and the advantage held up from there as Columbus took a 1-0 lead in the best of 5 series. The next game to me could be the most important game of the series for both teams, if somehow the Blue Jackets can win game 2 and go up 2-0, it will be very hard for Toronto to win 3 straight games at that point, not impossible, but not easy.

[VetteMan]

Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Joonas Korpisalo while making his career playoff debut stopped 28 shots to earn the first playoff shutout in the history of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Cam Atkinson gave the Blue Jackets a 1-0 lead at the 1:05 mark of the third period, with his 8th career playoff goal on a shot from the top of the right circle after a break out down the wing. David Savard earned an assist on the goal. Alexander Wennberg added an empty net goal at the 19:41 mark of the 3rd period. As I said before, if the Blue Jackets can somehow win game 2 in the series tonight, I can't see the Maple Leaf's being able to beat the Blue Jackets 3 games in a row to win the series.

[VetteMan]

Two days after being shut out by Columbus in game one of it's Stanley Cup Playoff qualifying series, Toronto came back in game two with a vengeance. It was the response that should have been expected from a team that is trying to earn it's first playoff series win since 2004, and one that is under constant pressure to turn it's highly touted group of young talent into a winner. In the end, it was response that largely overwhelmed the Blue Jackets on Tues. as the Maple Leaf's posted a 3-0 win. Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella had one thing to say, Toronto was really good, We sucked! I don't feel real good about these next best 2 out of 3 games, being that momentum is a big thing plus the Maple Leafs have the Home ice advantage.