For the latest Leafs updates or Follow @mikeinbuffalo on Twitter With each day it seems that another plan for the NHL resuming the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs gets floated. The league being open to any idea to getting back on the ice is understandable since doing so would cut their financial losses in half even if no fans are in the stands. After comments from Montreal Canadiens forward Phillip Danault earlier this week indicated significant skepticism and an unwillingness among players to be sequestered at neutral sites for as long as three months away to complete the 2019-20 season, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported on Friday that the NHL is investigating the possibility of playing games with no fans in home arenas instead of neutral site hubs for each division. The NHL has not closed the idea of each division congregating in four cities and completing the first rounds of the playoffs in an intra-division competition or even completing the regular season (which had 12 to 14 games left when the season was paused on March 12) and are select cities are submitting proposals to be hosts (according to TSN, but in a meeting on Wednesday players and representatives of the NHLPA pushed back on the scenario of teams being sequestered in hotels away from their families. According to Brooks, playing in individual cities would create a greater chance of players getting infected through more random exposure (in hotels, flights, restaurants, etc) and would make testing on a frequent basis more necessary. Another factor would be how far the process of reopening in each city is when the NHL plans on reopening. Toronto mayor John Tory banned all public events in the city until June 30, but the Maple Leafs would not be prevented from playing games without fans since Scotiabank Arena is a privately run facility. That may not be the case in places like New York City, which is a COVID-19 hotspot and may not allow public events through the end of the summer. *******
Whenever an anniversary pops up for the Toronto Maple Leafs, most are associated with painful defeat and only a few bring back pleasant memories. Earlier this week was the 42nd anniversary of Lanny McDonald’s Game 7 overtime winner against the New York Islanders and Friday marks the 27th anniversary of the Leafs win over Detroit in Game 7 of the first round of the 1993 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Nikolai Borschevsky’s overtime winner.
Some podcast. It’s good to be back.@IamNormanJames with @MikeInBuffalo #Tmltalk #theleafsconvo #COVID19 #coronavirus #nhl https://t.co/JHrPwSIONs
— The Leafs Convo (@TheLeafsConvo) April 26, 2020