The 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs might not look like the 16-team tournament we're accustomed to watching.
The 2019-20 season remains on pause amid the outbreak of COVID-19, and while the NHL has not officially announced if games will resume, it reportedly has discussed different proposals for how to finish the campaign if it's safe to do so.
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Earlier this week, TSN reported the league and the NHLPA were "making progress" on a 24-team format, one that could include a play-in series before a 16-team playoff. Nothing has been finalized, but it's possible we might see the Stanley Cup awarded using a unique postseason format.
Each league tries to maintain competitive equity. However, COVID-19 has presented a situation where that could be difficult to achieve. It's possible that some teams could benefit more than others depending on which format the league adopts if it comes back.
Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy is well aware of this fact, and it sounds like he's hoping the typical playoff format of 16 teams and four rounds is what the league ultimately decides in the event play resumes.
“Well, from our position, I’d rather it just (be) 16 (teams) — again this is just me and you talking, I don’t have a say in all of this — but I’d rather it be 16 teams, four rounds of four-out-of-seven, let’s go,” Cassidy said Wednesday on 98.5 The Sports Hub's "Toucher & Rich" morning show. "That’s the integrity of the playoffs. It’s always been that way. I understand the players’ perspective wanting to get some games in before that, because it gets ramped up in a hurry, you know playoff hockey there’s no holds barred and off you go. And I think that’s tough on the players. Other years they'd be allowed to work out and skate -- talk about a training camp, the guys typically going into September, if that was the case, they'd have been working out in August. They've been able to do nothing, for the most part. Some guys might be skating in Sweden or a couple of the European countries that are open, so they do need the time to ramp up health-wise. I get that. So that's the tough part about a scenario I'd like to see.
"At the end of the day, it’s going to be unfair for somebody down the road, that’s just the way it is. Even if you go with 16, what about the two teams who are at the bottom, there’s the points versus the points percentage. Sometimes, I think, you know what, nobody’s going to remember if you do a blind draw, one team is in, one team is out. They’re not going to remember that a year from now, it’s still a legitimate playoff. But hopefully we get to that 16 in the right way and it doesn’t hurt us. I guess that’s where I’m coming from, that we don’t get kind of screwed in this process, because we shouldn’t be. We should be rewarded for our regular season. But I don’t think any scenario is going to be perfectly fair, I understand that.”
Boston Bruins
There's no way of knowing how the long layoff will impact the Bruins if the playoffs do eventually take place, but Cassidy is confident his team will be up to the challenge regardless of what decisions are made.
“I think we’re going to be ready no matter what the scenario,” Cassidy said. “Our guys know what’s at stake.”