HockeyMailbag: Western travel schedules, stanchion solutions

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Lubomir Visnovsky of the Anaheim Ducks, front, and Ryan Kesler of the Vancouver Canucks (and their teammates) have accumulated plenty of frequent flyer miles thanks to their respective teams' travel schedules. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Every Thursday, Hockey Night in Canada's Elliotte Friedman responds to your questions.
Here are five from the past week:

Elliotte,

With the fight down the stretch and every shift counting in the West for playoff spots and positioning, could it pave the wave for Vancouver and/or Detroit to breeze into the Western Conference Final?  The thought is that the rest of the teams shot themselves down the stretch and have nothing left once the second week in April rolls around.

Thanks, Chris from New Hampshire.

Chris,

I don't buy that theory. If the post-lockout playoffs have proven anything, it's that seedings are almost worthless. There's not a lot between these teams.

Even those who barely get in take a deep breath and say, "New season. What happened before doesn't matter." Last year's Eastern Conference Final had a No. 7 seed vs. a No. 8 seed. Last weekend, Mikael Samuelsson was even saying that you have to worry about clinching so early because the teams at the bottom are already in desperate-hockey mode.

It doesn't matter your ranking. You better be ready to play.

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Hi Elliotte,

I remember reading somewhere a couple of years ago that the next edition of the World Cup of Hockey would be held in 2011.  I have not heard anything to suggest this is still the plan or if it's been scrapped or perhaps it's just being delayed.  Have you heard anything?

Thanks, Ben Patrick

Ben,

There won't be a World Cup this year. But, there is opportunity for something down the road. Last season, the NHL and NHLPA floated the idea of a tournament between the Olympic cycles. (So, there would be Vancouver 2010, World Cup 2012, Sochi 2014, WC 2016.) There is still an appetite for that type of system if pros go to the Olympics (and I think they will.)

Donald Fehr helped create the World Baseball event, and is a big believer in international play. So is the NHL. It makes a lot of money. One of the issues was when to hold it. The league wanted the regular September idea, while some in the PA wanted to replace the all-star game with a short tournament (although I'm not sure how widespread support was for that). Once the Olympics are settled, we'll have a better idea of the World Cup's future.

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Elliotte,

Do you ever think the league would do away with the eight teams from each conference model for the playoffs and just rank them 1 through 16 total? That way you would possibly see a Toronto-Montreal final ... or a Calgary-Edmonton final?

Sean Casey - Calgary

Sean,

Unlikely. I've never heard any support for it. It makes no sense to separate the conferences so much during the season and then mix for the playoffs. That's when you want the biggest rivalries and the shortest travel.

The only changes you'll see to the divisions in the next little while is some manouevering should a team move to Winnipeg.

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Hi Elliotte,
 
I would just like to say that "30 thoughts" is the BEST hockey article that I read and trust me when I say that I read a lot.
 
My question is this: has there been anything done in regards to scheduling to help western North American teams with travel? 

Thanks, Rob Hartmier

Rob,

When I did the Vancouver sleep piece on Inside Hockey, I learned a bit about how the NHL tries to help some of these teams. No system will ever be perfect, because you can't move cities closer - at least, not by modern technology.

One of the ways the league tries to help is by offering the teams with the toughest travel to finish their schedules first. So, Vancouver gets the first invitation to meet with the league and set home dates. The Canucks help themselves by clearing their entire calendar. Nothing (concerts, etc.) is booked until their home games are set, which gives them a better chance of putting together an acceptable overall schedule. That's critical, because chances are the teams with the worst schedules are the ones who share arenas and don't have priority selection of dates.

After VAN, it's the three California teams, Edmonton/Calgary and Phoenix/Dallas. The first Eastern teams to go are Tampa Bay/Florida.

A lot of it is determined by when teams want to play. Some U.S.-based teams - especially those in football-mad states - want fewer games earlier in the season and none on pigskin-crazy nights. Others (Buffalo) accept more back-to-backs because it means more weekend home dates.

Growing up in Toronto, the Maple Leafs almost always played home on Wednesdays and Saturdays. When Ken Dryden took over, he moved that Wednesday date to Tuesday because it meant fewer back-to-backs.

You can't beat geography, but you can be flexible. Of course, Detroit won four Cups in 14 years without complaining about travel.

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Hey Elliotte,

I thought of this idea following the Chara-Pacioretty hit when everyone was giving suggestions for what to do with the stanchions. I thought pushing the stanchion between the benches further back from the ice surface towards the fans about a foot and half or two feet would definitely decrease the risk of players getting turnbuckled, and was surprised while watching a game earlier this week featuring the Red Wings that Joe Louis Arena already has this in place.
 
Do you know if this suggestion was discussed as a rink-wide solution, or why other teams have not yet sought this model?
 
Thanks for your time, Tobias and Mark from Dirty Dangle

Gentlemen,

Funny, you mentioned this, because Wednesday night, Toronto's Joey Crabb (unintentionally) took New Jersey's Dainus Zubrus into the stanchion at Prudential Arena. Zubrus had to leave the game.

A few rinks have that indented turnbuckle. You mentioned Detroit. Vancouver does, too. The main reason the glass went out all the way to the ice in most arenas was to prevent opposing teams from grabbing or swinging sticks at one another from the benches.

Players have complained for years about seamless glass and boards in some arenas. Unfortunately, in recent years, both the NHL and NHLPA used safety as a bargaining chip more than a priority. Change, however, usually happens after something bad. Max Pacioretty's injury will eventually lead to some kind of adjustment, whether to padding or to glass length. 

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Do you have a question for Elliotte? Here's how to get in touch. Send a good old fashioned e-mail to: cbchockeyonline@cbc.ca. You can also send your comments via Twitter: @friedgeHNIC.

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