Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice believes eliminating travel during the 2019-20 postseason will result in high-quality action on the ice.
"If you look just at the opportunity to be great, for your team to feel good, to be healthy, and to drive at a very high level - which is playoff hockey on steroids - there's a chance that this is as good of hockey as I've ever seen," Maurice said of a postseason without travel, according to TSN.
The 24 teams involved in the league's restart arrived in their respective hub cities Sunday; the Eastern Conference's participants congregated in Toronto, while the Western Conference contingent gathered in Edmonton. The first slate of exhibition games is scheduled for Tuesday.
Maurice believes playing the majority of the postseason in one location will particularly benefit Western Conference clubs such as the Jets, who typically log more travel miles than Eastern Conference teams throughout the regular season.
"For a team like ours, that travel's a factor. You get off the plane at 2 or 3 in the morning enough times, it starts to set you back," Maurice said. "So these guys are going to be really well-rested, really well taken care of, (and) very very focused."
Winnipeg finished the regular season with a 37-28-6 record and will face the Calgary Flames in a best-of-five play-in series. Game 1 is set for Aug. 1.
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