NHL can’t afford not to play in 2020-21 amid reports

It is absolutely imperative that the NHL puts together some kind of season in 2020-21.

We’re firmly in the depths of the hockey off-season now and the NHL is still thrashing out plans for next year and what it may look like.

Just weeks after the Tampa Bay Lightning finally conquered their postseason demons by lifting the Stanley Cup inside The Bubble in Edmonton, it is clear that the 2020-21 season will also take an unusual form.

What that will look like is anyone’s guess at this point, however, with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman hoping to start the new season on Jan. 1, 2021, while still fulfilling a complete 82-game schedule.

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Due to fact that the COVID-19 Pandemic refuses to loosen its grip on the world, though, it seems unlikely that the NHL will be able to cram in a full 82-game schedule and finish before the Tokyo Olympics start on July. 23, 2021.

But, according to Emily Kaplan and Greg Wyshynski of ESPN, 48 games is the “absolute minimum” that will be played by teams in 2020-21.

More alarming in that story, however, is the fact that several owners have reportedly made a strong argument that the National Hockey League “will be better off financially if it shuts down next season.”

That is a shocking sentiment and the reasoning behind that logic is it would be more financially feasible for teams to simply sit out a year rather than operate arenas without fans in attendance.

While you can certainly make a case for that, there is no doubt that the NHL can’t afford to not have a 2020-21 season.

First and foremost, it is hardly a secret that hockey just about makes it on to the Mount Rushmore of sports in America, therefore taking a year off could seriously damage both the long-term health and relevancy of the sport in this country.

We’re biased here at Puck Prose in that we think hockey is the greatest sport on the planet but, in reality, the NHL pales in comparison when it comes to the NFL, the NBA and MLB in regards to overall popularity and TV ratings. It just does.

Therefore, the NHL must snap up any relevancy real estate they can get their hands on or risk slipping from the conscience of sports fans because you can bet everything you have that the three other major sports leagues in America will continue to battle through anything chucked their way in order to ensure that the show still goes on.

Also, while operating arenas across the NHL without fans for at least the first chunk of the 2020-21 season will result in more significant losses for owners and the league, just think of the dire chain of events that could be sparked by no hockey at all.

There would be nothing to keep fans engaged so jersey and merchandise sales will no doubt plummet, resulting in yet more crushing damage to the bottom line.

We all witnessed the wreckage left by lockout seasons and the devastating impact it had on the sport, so you can’t blame the NHL for wanting to stage a 2020-21 season no matter what it looks like.

Plus, with certain venues already booking concerts and events for next spring and summer, there is genuine hope that fans will be allowed back inside arenas at some point during 2020-21, and that’s why the NHL is remaining flexible and considering all options.

It does seem likely that the league will at least begin the year with new-look Divisions and potential Hub Cities due to the ongoing border issues in Canada, but there is a pathway to starting to welcome fans back as we’ve seen across the NFL.

There’s also the added caveat of needing to protect the 2021-22 season, which will mark the debut of both the Seattle Kraken and a new blockbuster TV deal.

But it does seem as though somehow, someway we will get an NHL season in 2020-21 and that’s the best possible outcome for everyone invested in this great game, no matter how weird the actual season might look like.

Because, simply waving the white flag and giving up on 2020-21 would spell utter disaster for the National Hockey League, an organization that needs to attract fresh blood to the game, not shut them out and turn them away to something else.