This week is the perfect time for the NHL to give us something to be thankful for

Timing is everything in life and the NHL should bear that in mind this week.

It is Thanksgiving week and, in what will be a holiday that will look and feel very different to so many compared to previous years, the NHL has the perfect opportunity to give us all a gift that we would truly be thankful for.

Unless you have been hiding under a rock in order to get away from all of the doom and gloom, you would have heard last week that negotiations between the NHL and the NHLPA hardly got off to the best of starts when trying to thrash out a concrete plan for the 2020-21 season.

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Actually, let’s rephrase that. It was an absolutely disastrous start that hardly bodes well for future discussions.

With the league asking the players for more concessions and alterations to a CBA that was only signed back in the summer, players were understandably left feeling rather angry and now bitter feelings threaten to spiral things out of control further.

I wrote last week about how now is not the time to panic about the 2020-21 season, with a keeping of the peace crucial given what is at stake for the NHL and the sport of hockey in this country if all hell breaks loose and we are faced with the inconceivable reality of having a lost season.

That would be a crushing blow bordering on a death knell to the league in the current climate, while I can’t imagine NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman will want another lockout on his resume.

Therefore, this week is the perfect time to let common sense prevail and for an agreement to be thrashed out on a concrete start date for the 2020-21 NHL season.

It would be the perfect Thanksgiving gift for hockey fans desperate for any crumb of good news right now, while it would prevent things escalating further and both sides risking tarnishing their reputation by airing their dirty laundry during a time of great strife in this country where so many have lost so much.

And there are reasons to be positive.

Chris Johnston of Sportsnet has reported that the NHL and the NHLPA “continue to grind away” on the financials needed to ensure that the 2020-21 season starts on Jan. 1, 2021, which is still a realistic target date in the eyes of the league.

Starting on Jan. 1 is important because not only will the league be able to fit in a still respectable 60-game schedule, but it also protects the 2021-22 season which will usher in not only the debut of the Seattle Kraken but a new blockbuster TV deal too.

We’ve not heard any further rumblings, either, which is a very good sign and hopefully that is a precursor of things to come.

I’ve been confident in my stance that a deal will be struck and we will get a 2020-21 season starting on Jan. 1, 2021 and, if the NHL are clever, they will try to deliver that ultimate gift to hockey fans this Thanksgiving week in order to spark some energy and cheer into a holiday week that won’t be as special or as meaningful for so many this week.

And getting news that the new season has been given the green light to start would be something we could all be thankful for in a year that taken its toll on all of us.