NHL Heroes and Heels: What would a neutral site playoff look like?

Heroes and Heels is a weekly NHL column highlighting the heroes and villains of the last week of hockey. This week, we dive into one of the league’s possible solutions for its return.

This week would have been the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 2019-20 NHL season. It’s hard not to think on what could have been, in some alternate universe. Last week’s column was all about the what-ifs on what would have been the last week of the regular season.

This one is particularly tough, considering the Stanley Cup playoffs are the best time of year for hockey fans. The product is great, the atmosphere is unbeatable and there’s always one major upset each season that throws everything we know about the sport of hockey out the window.

The last few seasons, especially, have been filled with great stories, such as the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals winning their first Stanley Cups, alongside the Vegas Golden Knights reaching the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season as a franchise.

We’re not going to see a Stanley Cup champion crowned this June. We may see one later this summer, but even that’s not guaranteed. With one week of April gone, we’re closing in on a month since the NBA suspended its season, causing the dominoes to fall across the sports world. Simultaneously, this last month has felt like 10 years and also somehow, just 10 seconds due to how fast things escalated.

It’s hard not to get sad about the lack of playoff hockey this spring. But, thankfully, the internet makes it easy to watch any important televised game, moment or goal that we want. Take some time today to find your favorite playoff moment and revel in it just a little bit.

For the record, here’s mine:

What I’m playing: Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Persona 5 Royal, Overwatch

Hero: A possible solution?

Over the weekend, a report surfaced that the NHL is looking into another potential avenue to bring back the league after this pause. This time, the idea is one of playing games at a neutral site — the reports specified North Dakota or New Hampshire as possible states — in either a handful of cities or setting up shop in just one and playing a playoff tournament there.

Baseball and basketball are also toying with that idea as well, with the MLB looking at Arizona as a potential target while the NBA has been pondering Las Vegas as a spot. All sports leagues seem to be following this natural progression in an attempt to find the safest and best way to reopen their businesses.

As for hockey, the idea is an intriguing one. The NHL seemingly would like to do a multi-city event, if that were the case, though circumstances may not permit them to do so if it comes down to it.

However, for this exercise, let’s take a look at what a one-city playoff tournament would be like if the NHL were to go down that route. Players and team staff would likely be sequestered in hotels or motels for the duration of the tournament, making an almost Olympic Village style of tournament, though with less parties and more social distancing.

Games could be played on just one rink throughout the day — with most people at home during this time, why not line up four games in a day starting in the morning? — with broadcast crews, staff and essential personnel being the only needed human beings in attendance outside of players and coaches. Instead of facing empty seats, the stands could be curtained off completely (arenas do have the ability to do so, after all) and provide a unique atmosphere we’ve never seen in sports.

Mics could be placed in different spots to get different feedback without crowd noise. Music could be pumped in during stoppages. The possibilities are endless for the league to play around with different presentations while keeping the players as safe as possible.

Of course, there are cons to this plan. Players would have to be separated from their families for potentially a few months, depending on how far teams advance. If a player does test positive for coronavirus, the entire operation would likely be shut down once again. The entire event would have to be played in a bubble, and that will be quite the task to make sure everything is done properly and securely.

And the question begs to be asked, is it worth risking the safety of other people just to get these games played?

The NHL will be grappling with these questions over the next few weeks, but as commissioner Gary Bettman has stated, they’re looking at all options big or small.

Heel: Where’s the fun, NHL?

Last week, it was reported that the NBA and ESPN are working on televising a H-O-R-S-E competition between basketball stars. The idea would see several NBA stars play in isolation at home gyms, but would be televised for the world to see.

It’s a really neat idea for the NBA, one that will likely generate some buzz around the sport given the lack of it over the last few weeks. Fans starved for sports content will at least get some light-hearted competition from some of basketball’s biggest names.

The NHL should absolutely steal that idea, if they had any sense. The NHL’s deal with NBC gives them a perfect outlet to televise it on — or even better yet, put it on Twitch where viewership is skyrocketing.

It does not necessarially have to be a H-O-R-S-E competition, though that could work for players on roller skates with accessible nets. The NHL could have players suit up and play an NHL 20 online match against another player. Players could create their own hockey obstacle courses in their houses and backyards and challenge other players to build more elaborate ones of their own.

The possibilities are endless for the NHL to capitalize on some form of fun with their players during this downtime, and they’re giving away free publicity should they not decide to do so.

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