Return to Play Status Update
There have been mixed messages coming from the National Hockey League abou where things stand in the process of trying to finalize and announce a plan for the 2020-21 season amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
On the one hand, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman publicly continues to say that Jan. 1, 2021, is the target date to start the regular season. Since that is less than a month away, there are still players scattered across North America and Europe and there are quarantine requirements that will have to be met before training camp can even begin, that date seems more and more doubtful with each passing day.
On the other hand, Bettman admitted there's a whole lot of work to be done both on the financial agreement side as well in terms of logistics and dealing with the rapidly shifting realities of the pandemic.
"There are a lot of things that we have to deal with if we’re going to return to play," Bettman said on Wednesday at the Sports Business Journal’s ‘Dealmakers in Sports’ conference.
Some of the biggest obstacles are financial. The NHL and the NHLPA are in disagreement over who gets paid what percentage of their salaries in each check and when they'll receive the rest. Specifically, the NHL and NHLPA are at loggerheads over adjusted escrow/deferred compensation since the time a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was reached in July ahead of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.
When the CBA was agreed upon in a Memorandum of Understanding signed by both sides in July, the NHLPA agreed that 20 percent of players' paychecks in 2020-21 would be placed in escrow and an additional 10 percent would be paid in the future as deferred compensation. In November, the NHL put forth two proposals to amend these percentages.
One proposal was for the 2020-21 season only. Escrow would increase from 20 to 25 percent and deferred salary from 10 percent to 20 percent. From 2021-22 onward, the percentages would return to the CBA-specified rates.
The second proposal would have increased deferred compensation for the 2020-21 season from 10 percent to 26 percent but left the escrow percentage the same until years four, five and six of the CBA (2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26). At that point, there'd be higher percentages tied up in escrow each season for the remainder of the life of the CBA.
The NHLPA members, in many cases, have balked at the suggestion of altering the agreed-upon percentages of their salary tied up in escrow and/or deferred to future payments. Some have said that it's preferable to not playing at all this season -- whereby they'd receive no money at all -- while others have said the NHL should be held accountable to exactly the terms that were agreed upon over the summer.
Bettman objected to the widespread media characterization of the NHL's stance on returning to play as one of demanding a CBA renegotiation with the NHLPA. He described it as trying to find a way to cope on the fly with how the revenue landscape has changed since the time the CBA was established.
"We made a number of assumptions collectively over the summer, most of which are not applicable anymore," Bettman said.
"Under our deal, and the one we’ve had for more than a decade with the Players’ Association, whatever the revenues are the players only get 50 percent. And if we overpay them [relative to percentage of revenues that go to player salaries] and they don’t pay us back in the short term, they have to pay us back over time. There will be stresses on the system and we’ve had discussions about what those stresses are and how they might be dealt with, but we’re not trying to say ‘You must do X, Y and Z.’ We’re trying to look for ways to continue to work together."
Apart from the escrow/deferral issue, which has become the most immediate matter to tackle before the rest of the return-to-play plan can be formalized, there are a host of other matters to deal with in the immediate future before training camps can commence.
There are still unanswered questions about arena availability in all 31 markets versus the adoption of a modified "bubble" setup, scheduling, the number of games per team, and more. There is the also the matter of reviewing and updating as necessary the codefied coronavirus-related policies and procedures for conducting a season.
On a brighter note, there are reports of some NHL European players who are not currently playing in overseas leagues (whether elite leagues or minor-league circuits) planning to return to North America now in order to be ready for the start of training camp when it eventually comes.
My personal feeling is that there will still be a 2020-21 season but it will end up being something more along the lines of the 1994-95 and 2012-13 lockout-shortened campaigns. Even with a two-week training camp and one or two exhibition games at maximum, it's increasingly hard to project the season starting before the latter half of January to early February. That's especially true since all parties want to re-establish a sense of normality to an 82-game season come 2021-22.
As such, after much hand-wringing and the NHL/NHLPA each putting "if there's a season" qualifiers on their stances, I think there will be a 48 to 60 game regular season depending on how many weeks drop off to get training camps underway beforehand. There's just too much at stake on both sides for the oft-interrupted National Hockey League to lose a full season over escrow and deferred compensation. If it were full-scale cap ceiling and cap floor alterations on top the existing flat cap environment, I'd be more worried about having a season at all amid the pandemic.
College Prospect Updates
Flyers prospects Cam York (Michigan), Bobby Brink (Denver), Noah Cates (Minnesota Duluth) and Gavin Hain (North Dakota) were all in action on Wednesday night for their respective teams.
* York had a somewhat uneven overall performance in Michigan's 3-1 win over Penn State. He was plus-one on the night, and did not record a shot on goal. After back-to-back losses to Notre Dame last weekend the Wolverines (5-2-0 overall, 3-2-0 within the Big Ten conference) got back on the winning track. The Wolverines and Nittany Lions rematch tonight. After recording at least one point in each of the first three games of the season (1g, 3a), sophomore defenseman York has been held without a point in the last four games. He and Brink are virtual shoo-ins to make Team USA's final roster for the 2020-21 World Junior Championships.
* Brink's Pioneers team played its regular season opener last night, dropping an in-conference NCHC match to Cates' Bulldogs team, 2-1. Brink did not record a point and had one shot on goal. With Minnesota Duluth trailing, 1-0, entering the third period Cates assisted on both goals for his team on the power play. The first was scored by Noah's brother, Jackson, with 6:54 left in the game. The latter was assisted by both Cates brothers and scored by Kobe Roth with 6:08 remaining after the Bulldogs went right back on the power play 24 seconds after Jackson Cates tied the game. One night earlier, Minnesota Duluth earned a 5-3 win over Omaha. Noah Cates tallied a third-period power play goal. Denver plays North Dakota on Friday and then St. Cloud State on Saturday. Minnesota Duluth (2-0-0 overall and 2-0-0 within the NCHC) plays Miami on Sunday in lieu of an originally scheduled but subsequently postponed game against Colorado College.
* Hain played an active and physical game for North Dakota in their regular season opening 2-0 win over Miami on Tuesday in a NCHC conference game. Playing second-line left wing, he recorded three shots on goal and was effective on the forecheck but did not get on the scoresheet.
Flyers Alumni In the Holiday Spirit
The Flyers Alumni Association and various individual Alumni are carrying on the tradition of giving during holiday season via participation in two separate charitable giving programs. The Flyers Alumni Association itself is conducting its second annual 12 Days of Christmas Season Giving program, which will benefit charities and individuals in need both the Delaware Valley and across North America, with one new recipient named each day. I will have more details on the 2020 Flyers Alumni Association program and its daily recipients in the days to come.
In the meantime, various Flyers Alumni are one again taking part in Snider Hockey's Five Days of Giving program. Details follow below, courtesy of a press release sent by Ike Richman:
An All-Star Philadelphia hockey Line-Up featuring Claude Giroux, Danny Briere, Kimmo Timonen, Scott Hartnell, Chuck Fletcher, and Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation President Scott Tharp are joining together to assist the Snider Hockey Five Days of Giving beginning Monday, December 7 and running through Friday, December 11.
This All-Star Line Up is donating a combined $20,000 to match all individual five-day contributions from friends and followers of Snider Hockey. Because of Ed Snider’s legacy commitment to match all dollars raised 2:1, their $20,000 support will be immediately converted to $60,000. And - should Snider Hockey donors meet the challenge of matching the All-Stars’ $20,000, their total contributions would also be tripled, so the sum from this unique Five Days of Giving Challenge could climb to $120,000 – providing a terrific assist to the deserving young men and women of Snider Hockey.
“The guys who’ve agreed to take part in this Challenge have been incredible mentors to our students, both on and off the ice - often giving us their time, as well as their financial support,… said Tharp. “Hopefully, this will inspire others to join our effort to deliver even greater opportunities to our deserving youth.…
Each All-Star will pledge a daily matching contribution during the Five Days of Giving Campaign beginning with the President’s Challenge featuring a combined match from Fletcher and Tharp on Monday, December 7.
Danny Briere is the All-Star featured on Day Two (December 8), followed by Timonen on Day Three (December 9), Hartnell on Day Four (December 10), and Giroux on Day Five (December 11).
Each All-Star will post a video of their support on Snider Hockey (@SniderHockey)’s social media channels on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Each donation to this Challenge qualifies for a daily prize including autographed merchandise from the All-Stars.
The late Philadelphia Flyers founder Ed Snider created the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation with the ultimate goal to build lives and unite communities. He wanted to assure that Philadelphia’s inner-city young men and women had an opportunity to succeed in the game of life. With hockey as the hook to lure kids into the program, the emphasis was and continues to be education. Snider Hockey offers after-school educational assistance helping guide its participants from crayons to careers, ultimately affording those student-athletes that graduate through the program a free, four-year college tuition to one of several area colleges.
Throughout the pandemic, the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation has responded, building appropriate support systems for its student-athletes offering them educational support, fitness instruction, dietary suggestions, and emotional support, as well as providing meals and books to the community at large. All efforts to maintain Snider’s vision of helping young men and women succeed in the game of life.
Last but certainly not least, Flyers Charities is conducting a holiday auction that runs through Monday, December 7. The items up for bid include a slew of current Flyers as well as Flyers Alumni, including autographed photos, jerseys, lithographs, pucks and more. Alumi represented include the likes of Bobby Clarke and Bernie Parent, Eric Lindros and John LeClair, Kimmo Timonen, Danny Briere and Simon Gagne, Chris Pronger, Steve Mason, Ian Lapperriere. For more information on the Flyers Charities Holiday auction, click here.
Goalie Week on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com and Flyers Daily
Goalie Week continues on Flyers Broadcast Network and the team's official website, following yesterday's launch with Jason Myrtetus's interview with Martin Biron.
The first Goalie Week article for the Flyers website, which will run over the weekend, will look at the special relationship between NHL goalies and their goaltending coach. Next, there will be a retrospective on the most memorable masks that Flyers goalies have sported through the years.
Next up on Flyers Daily will be Jason's interview with mid-2000s Flyers goaltender Robert Esche. Tomorrow, Jason and I are recording a tandem interview with Broad Street Bullies era Flyers backup goalie and longtime broadcast analyst Bobby Taylor that will air next week on the Flyers Broadcast Network.
The Goalie week content will continue throughout next week with a host of interviews of past -- and current -- Flyers netminders plus historical and current article content on the team's official website.
Truth be told, we'd all rather be focusing on the 2020-21 Flyers season. We will shift gears immediately as soon as the details for training camp and the regular season become known. In the meantime, we hope you enjoyed the Scouts Week content before the Draft, and the Hall of Fame Week content that ran last week and this week.
We think you will likewise enjoy Goalie Week and then upcoming coverage of the World Junior Championships and Flyers prospects. We'll have a WJC preview edition of "Prospect Pipeline" upcoming along with ongoing coverage of the tournament on the website once the preliminary round gets underway.
Today in Flyers History: December 3 edition
1969: Jim Johnson scored a surprise hat trick, recording his fifth, sixth and seventh goals of the season in a 7-1 road rout of the Los Angeles Kings. In the same game, Simon Nolet notched a pair of goals while rookie center Bobby Clarke scored the third goal of his NHL career. 1978: Two goals and an assist by Don "Big Bird" Saleski power the Flyers to a 7-2 home win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Defenseman Bob "the Count" Dailey also has a three-point night with a goal and two assists, while Rick MacLeish tallied a pair of goals. 1984: Bob Froese made the most of a start at Madison Square Garden, recording 31 saves in a 6-2 win over the Rangers. The Flyers shrugged off a Jan Erixon goal in the opening half minute of the game to score the next four goals. Team captain Dave Poulin (two goals, one assist) and Peter Zezel (one goal, one assist) led the charge. Brian Propp notched his 16th goal of the season to start a hot streak in which he racked up three goals and seven points over a five-game span.
1992: The Flyers overcame a tying goal by Mats Sundin in the final 27 seconds of the third period to prevail 3-2 at the Spectrum over the Quebec Nordiques. Tough guy Claude Boivin scored the overtime winner. Doug Evans and Greg Paslawski scored in regulation. Rookie Eric Lindros missed the game due to a knee injury.
1995: In one of the most dominant regular season games of his career, Mikael Renberg scored his 16th and 17th goals of the season and added a nice assist on a John LeClair goal to power the Flyers to a 6-1 home win over the Boston Bruins. Renberg's second goal was one of the best of his career. The sequence started with him breaking up a Boston scoring chance with a good defensive play on the backcheck to start a counter-rush. Starting from his own goal line, Renberg raced up the ice to catch up to linemates Eric Lindros and LeClair and then finished off the play from point blank range. The goal earned Renberg a standing ovation from the knowledgeable Spectrum crowd.
2003 A bout with sinusitis brought defenseman Kim Johnsson's consecutive games played streak to an end at 217. On that night, the Flyers overcame an early deficit to down the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins by a 5-2 score. Jeremy Roenick, Radovan Somik, Eric Weinrich, Chris Therien, and Mark Recchi inflicted the goal-scoring damage. Acquired in the blockbuster trade of August 20, 2001 that sent Eric Lindros to the New York Rangers, Johnsson won the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the Flyers' best defenseman in both 2001-02 and 2003-04. Unfortunately, starting in 2004-05, the latter part of Johnsson's NHL career was increasingly derailed by repeated concussions.
Happy Birthday, Lou!
Best wishes go out to legendary Flyers public address announcer Lou Nolan for a happy 75th birthday and many even happier returns to the day. A beloved figure among Flyers fans and employees alike, Lou has been part of the organization in various capacities since the 1967-68 inaugural season and the PA announcer at the Spectrum and then the Wells Fargo Center since the days of the back-to-back Stanley Cup wins by the Broad Street Bullies.