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NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would like to complete the 2019-20 regular season once games are allowed to resume, but he's unsure if that option will still be on the table.
"The best thing - and the easiest thing - would be if at some point we could complete the regular season and then go into the playoffs as we normally do," Bettman told NBC Sports on Tuesday. "We understand that that may not be possible and that's why we're considering every conceivable alternative to deal with whatever the eventuality is.
"Again, it doesn't even pay to speculate because nobody in any of the sports knows enough now to make those profound decisions."
When the NHL postponed play on March 12, every team had 14 or fewer games remaining in the regular season. On Tuesday, Bettman acknowledged that going straight to the playoffs could be unfair to bubble teams that believe they should have a shot to qualify.
The commissioner added that while he's hopeful about salvaging the season, he understands the complexity of the situation at hand.
“Our first focus is keeping everybody healthy and safe,” Bettman said. “We want to get back to playing for our fans, and for the love of the game, as soon as it makes sense and is safe to do so.”
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A third Colorado Avalanche player tested positive for COVID-19, the NHL announced Tuesday. The player is self-isolating and hasn't had close contact with other Avalanche players or staff.
Eight players in the league have now tested positive, with five on the Ottawa Senators and three on the Avalanche.
Last week, the NHL reportedly extended its self-quarantine period for players and staff until April 15.
Sports history is littered with great teams that dominated their regular seasons only to fall short of ultimate glory in the playoffs. Our writers are paying tribute to those teams who were Almost Famous. After tackling MLB in Part 1, the NHL's up next.
Dynasties have long been one of my favorite things about sports. They're relatable to all fans and offer the fair-weather supporter either a bandwagon to hop on or something to complain about.
When an NHL franchise has an opportunity to capture its third title in four years, fourth in six, or whatever number we feel constitutes a dynasty in that era, I'm all in. Why? Because sports are where we go to witness great feats, and a dynasty, at its core, is about a group of people accomplishing several great feats over a period longer than most can achieve. Dynasties are success to the extreme. They give us benchmarks, records, and history.
M Hicks / Getty Images
Enter the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings, who, had they won the Stanley Cup, would have sparked a heated debate. Detroit won in 1997 and 1998 and then again in 2002, so a 1996 Cup would have made it three championships in a row, and four titles over seven years, all accomplished with a handful of the same characters along for the ride.
What separates this particular squad from a long list of excellent regular season teams that failed to win the Cup in the post-1967 expansion era - including recent entries like the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning, 2010-11 Vancouver Canucks, 2009-10 Washington Capitals, and 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres - is, well, another long list. The 1995-96 Wings check off all the chef's kiss-worthy boxes associated with truly special teams.
Led by captain Steve Yzerman and all-timer Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit finished the regular season with a 62-13-7 record and 131 points. This set a new mark for most wins in a single season (Tampa won 62 in 2018-19) and stands as the second-highest points total in a single season. The Wings had a whopping 27-point lead in the overall standings over the second-place Colorado Avalanche. Among the league's 26 teams, Detroit owned the league's best defense, third-best offense, top-ranked penalty kill, and second-ranked power play. This utter domination produced a plus-144 goal differential.
Bruce Bennett / Getty Images
Seven players from the 1995-96 roster are in the Hockey Hall of Fame: forwards Yzerman, Sergei Fedorov, Dino Ciccarelli, Igor Larionov, and defensemen Slava Fetisov, Paul Coffey, and Lidstrom. General manager Jim Devellano and head coach Scotty Bowman are also Hall inductees. Bowman, widely considered without equal in NHL coaching circles, took home his second and final Jack Adams Award in 1996 for molding and motivating such a feared, meticulous team.
"They're like bloodhounds. They smell blood and they go for the kill," is how CBC commentator Brian Hayward described Bowman's Wings during a playoff game. They were one of those rare teams capable of breaking through the defining characteristics of its era. In the clutch-and-grab NHL, they married high speed with puck control to dominate action at both ends. This wasn't a case of a group riding the coattails of a few superstars, either. Bowman, hired by the Wings in 1993, had plenty of intriguing options.
The famous Russian Five of Larionov, Fedorov, Slava Kozlov, Fetisov, and Vladimir Konstantinov personified Detroit's brand of hockey. Borrowing from their collective experience with the Red Army team in the former Soviet Union, the five-man unit toyed with opponents, zooming the puck around with ease for long stretches of even-strength play. Their assigned positions were mere formalities in the free-flowing, puck-possession system Bowman allowed them to play.
Fedorov led the 1995-96 Wings in scoring with 107 points in 78 games and also earned the second of three Selke trophies as best defensive forward. Yzerman, Coffey, Kozlov, and Larionov also recorded 70 or more points, while Keith Primeau, a towering power forward with soft hands, scored 27 goals, trailing Fedorov's 39, Yzerman's 36, and Kozlov's 36. A 35-year-old Ciccarelli, still a net-front monster, chipped in 22 goals in 64 games.
Graig Abel / Getty Images
A loveable troupe of role players and an understated goaltending tandem filled out Bowman's lineup card. All three members of the legendary Grind Line - Kris Draper between Kirk Maltby and Darren McCarty - were beginning to establish themselves as invaluable contributors. (Maltby was acquired via trade in March 1996.) Martin Lapointe and Stu Grimson provided grit and muscle on the wing. In goal, a young Chris Osgood appeared in 50 games, with 1989 Cup winner Mike Vernon serving as an overqualified backup in his second season in Detroit. The duo allowed only 181 goals in 82 games to claim the William Jennings Trophy.
With a nearly identical roster, the 1994-95 Wings went on a deep playoff run, ultimately dropping four straight in the Cup final to the New Jersey Devils. That Red Wings team won the Presidents' Trophy in a lockout-shortened season and went 12-2 through the first three rounds, but couldn't finish the job against Martin Brodeur, Scott Stevens, and company. This dynamic led to a series of questions ahead of the 1996 postseason, especially: Would Yzerman, then 30 years old and in his 10th year as captain, finally win a Cup ring?
In the first two rounds of the 1996 playoffs, it looked plausible. Detroit defeated the Winnipeg Jets in six games. Then they outlasted Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, and the St. Louis Blues in a hard-fought seven-game series. Detroit won the opening two games, lost the middle three, then won the final two. Yzerman scored the double-OT winner in Game 7, sending the Wings to Round 3 with a 1-0 win.
The Western Conference final was a juicy matchup: Colorado versus Detroit, the two top regular-season teams. Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg versus Yzerman and Fedorov. The team that scored nine goals on Patrick Roy in the netminder's infamous last game in a Montreal Canadiens uniform versus the team that acquired Roy via trade from Montreal. Former Devils forward Claude Lemieux, the reigning Conn Smythe Trophy winner, versus the Wings - again.
That last matchup - Lemieux against a familiar foe - proved critical in a number of ways. In the first period of Game 6, Lemieux nailed Draper from behind, driving his face into the boards, earning a five-minute major in the process. But the Red Wings scored only once on the power play, and the Avalanche finished off Detroit hours later. Lemieux was eventually handed a two-game suspension, while Bowman's club was again left searching for answers, running out of gas against a dialed-in Avs club that would go on to win the Cup in four straight against the overmatched Florida Panthers. That it could happen after Yzerman's heroics in Game 7 against St. Louis, after the Yzerman moment the franchise had been waiting years for, made it all the more crushing.
The Avs won their first Cup, but Lemieux's cheap shot on Draper is the lasting memory from the 1996 playoffs. It's the exact moment when a bubbling rivalry became a full-on fierce rivalry. Detroit-Colorado became must-see TV for the foreseeable future. Goalie fights and back-and-forth games; the two teams won four of the six next Cups, Detroit getting its revenge in every way in 1997. Tantalizing theater.
Which begs the question: What's better - a dynasty or a rivalry? Hmm.
Boston Bruins defenseman and pending unrestricted free agent Torey Krug said Tuesday he hopes the NHL's coronavirus-induced break doesn't mark the end of his time with the organization.
"For me personally, I really hope I did not play my last game as a Boston Bruin," Krug said on a conference call, according to Joe Haggerty of NBC Sports Boston. "It's been a special place for me and my family to grow. My love for the game and playing in front of these fans has been very special to me. But (this situation) hasn't given me any clarity."
The 28-year-old is one of the top UFAs potentially available this summer.
"I can't put any assumptions on it, but I can only guess that things are going to look different from a salary-cap perspective next season," Krug said. "Team structures as well are going to be affected by it, but I have no clarity about it. ... It's just the reality of the situation."
He added that there haven't been any negotiations with the Bruins since early March, but the two sides did open talks about a possible extension in October.
The defenseman is in the final campaign of a four-year contract that carries a $5.25-million annual cap hit. The NHL's salary cap was projected to rise as high as $84 million before the pause, but the final figure is far from determined at this point.
Krug signed with the Bruins as a college free agent out of Michigan State and played his first NHL game in 2012. He's racked up 337 points in 523 games, adding another 46 points in 62 career playoff contests.
When the NHL went on pause March 12, the Bruins occupied first place with 100 points.
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Bobby Orr is expressing his gratitude toward healthcare professionals in Boston battling the coronavirus pandemic.
The hockey legend wrote a letter thanking workers at Massachusetts General Hospital. Here's the full note, which the hospital published Monday:
This message is for everybody currently on the front lines at Mass General, doing what you all do so well. Thank you to the physicians, nurses, technicians, custodians, administrators, supply handlers - everyone there who is contributing in these unprecedented times. The battle against COVID-19 could never be managed without your tireless dedication, and please know that the people you serve understand your commitment, and we do not take it for granted.
This pandemic has yet against demonstrated what everyone at Mass General is made of as you go about your daily routines. You are not only saving lives at your wonderful facilities - you are also protecting so many more people beyond your hospital walls as a function of your best efforts. It strikes me that the word 'hero' is often used to describe athletes in our society, but in my eyes, YOU are the true heroes that I personally look up to and your are constantly on my mind. This virus is no game, so we need real-life heroes to step up and bring it under control. Thankfully, that is exactly what you are doing.
Undoubtedly, the days and weeks ahead will test us all in many ways. But none will be tested more than those of you who continue to manage, treat and research the virus day after day after day. Given your efforts and expertise, I have great confidence in the eventual outcome of this pandemic, in no small measure because of the excellence I have personally witnessed at Mass General.
To all of you, please ... keep on fighting the good fight, and thank you so much for all you do.
With great respect,
Bobby Orr
The 72-year-old, who's widely considered the best NHL defenseman of all time, is the latest hockey figure to show support for healthcare workers. Several others, including Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, shared messages thanking them on National Doctors' Day last week.
The Winnipeg Jets signed 2017 second-round pick Dylan Samberg to a three-year, entry-level contract with an average annual value of $1.175 million, the team announced Tuesday.
Samberg spent the past three seasons at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He won back-to-back national championships with the Bulldogs and posted 21 points across 28 games in the 2019-20 campaign.
The 21-year-old has also represented the United States at the world juniors on multiple occasions, capturing a bronze medal in 2018 and silver in 2019.
Now we visit the opposite end of that list, as we dive into the teams that just couldn't buy a win when the odds were stacked against them.
Note: Profits listed for $100 bettor
1. Detroit Red Wings, -$2,330
Sheer volume makes the Red Wings runaway winners when it comes to the least profitable underdog in the NHL this season. If you bet $100 on Detroit every game it was a 'dog this season, you would have gifted books $2,330 of your hard-earned money. Only once throughout the entire season were the Red Wings favored, as they finished 17-53 on the campaign at plus-money. Stunningly, there was one team with a worse winning percentage as 'dogs this season, but more on that later ...
2. Ottawa Senators, -$1,312
The Senators were not that team. Ottawa finished 19-41 on the season with a longer line than its opponents. As big 'dogs, the Senators were a virtual lock to lose. They posted a 1-18 record (-$1,538) at +185 or longer. They were actually profitable when priced between +100 and +184, earning bettors $262 thanks to an 18-23 record.
3. San Jose Sharks, -$889
The 2019-20 season was an unmitigated disaster for the Sharks, who entered the season with Stanley Cup aspirations. Most of the damage was done in October, with the Sharks finishing the opening month of the season 1-7 as 'dogs (-$585). After bouncing back in November (4-0), they reached rock bottom in December, losing six in a row as 'dogs to start the month. Overall, the Sharks had the fourth-worst win percentage this season at plus-money (15-29, 34.1%).
4. Arizona Coyotes, -$554
A total of 11 teams in the league had worse records as underdogs this season than the Coyotes, who were done in by a short average line of +129. Nine of their 14 victories as 'dogs came with a line between -102 and +115, failing to erase enough from their 22 defeats to get them off this list.
5. Toronto Maple Leafs, -$535
The Maple Leafs owned the league's worst winning percentage as underdogs this season, posting a paltry 2-8 record at plus-money. They started the season 0-6 as 'dogs. The fact that they were underdogs just 10 times this season is revealing of the way they're perceived by the public; oddsmakers are forced to overvalue this team because of the attention it receives in the betting market.
Alex Moretto is a sports betting writer for theScore. A journalism graduate from Guelph-Humber University, he has worked in sports media for over a decade. He will bet on anything from the Super Bowl to amateur soccer, is too impatient for futures, and will never trust a kicker. Find him on Twitter @alexjmoretto.
Zub, a 24-year-old right-handed shot, is coming off a season in which he posted a career-high 22 points in 57 games with SKA St. Petersburg.
His 2019-20 campaign prematurely came to an end after one playoff game as the KHL canceled the remainder of its season in late March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Zub has represented Russia on the international level in numerous events, highlighted by a gold medal win at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang.
Barabanov's deal is worth $925,000, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun. That's the exact amount Toronto paid Ilya Mikheyev when it signed him out of the same league last May.
The Maple Leafs and Arizona Coyotes were reportedly the favorites to land Barabanov.
The 25-year-old spent seven years in the KHL with SKA St. Petersburg, helping the team win the Gagarin Cup in 2015 and 2017. He produced a career-high 17 goals and 46 points across 58 games in 2018-19, but Barabanov managed only 11 goals and 20 points over 43 contests this season.
He's represented Russia multiple times on the international stage, winning gold with the Olympic team in 2018, capturing bronze at the 2014 World Junior Hockey Championship, and playing at the World Championship on three occasions, winning bronze twice.
