This article covers a summary of the NHL Hockey 2021 Season changes, updates due to COVID-19 and basic concepts on how the season will progress.
It seems like yesterday that the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup over the Dallas Stars on 9/28/20 with a 2-0 victory in Game 6 of the 2019-2020 Stanley Cup Finals. The National Hockey League (NHL) conducted a successful Covid-19 bubble in Edmonton and Toronto. There were zero positive Covid tests for players, coaches and team personnel.
NBC Sports Network television (NBCSN) coverage was top notch by using thirty-five different cameras for each game. There were 6-7 games played daily during the post season restart, and NBCSN had excellent announcing teams and studio analysts. The NHL gave a very good blueprint/manual for finishing a pandemic season. The MLS, NBA, MLB, PGA and NFL used this model to help their leagues get back on television and ultimately complete each of their respective post-seasons.
On 10/19/20 the voice of NHL Hockey, Mike Emrick, hung up his broadcasting headset and microphone to enjoy retirement. I’m hoping NBCSN finds a good replacement for the lead announcer seat next to Eddie Olczyk. Due to the compressed schedule of finishing the 2019-2020 season and starting the new NHL Hockey 2021 season on 1/13/21, this posting will highlight the new NHL temporary realigned team divisions, condensed games schedule, All-Star Game/Winter Classic Game and rules changes.
COVID Travel Restrictions
The NHL standard full season of 82 games has been reduced to 56 games. Due to Covid travel restrictions between the United States and Canada, there’s a temporary realignment of NHL divisions to enable all teams to hit 56 games played. Here’s the temporary realigned team divisions:
East Division Teams
Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals
Central Division Teams
Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning
West Division Teams
Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, San Jose Sharks, St. Louis Blues, Vegas Golden Knights
North Division (Canada Only) Teams
Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadians, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets
NHL Hockey 2021 Teams Only Play Inside Their Division
Teams will play teams within their division only. The three USA Divisions (East, Central and West) will play each of their seven division opponents eight times for a total of 56 games played per team. The seven teams in the Canada Division (North) will play each other nine or ten times to reach 56 games played per team. To try and minimize travel from city to city, most teams will play 2-3 games in a row against the same team. This model closely resembles Division 1 NCAA college hockey scheduling. Small “series” against the same team during the regular season should lead to heated rivalries and inevitably more fighting penalties. Every game will basically be a playoff game intensity wise.
Top 4 Teams from Each Division Advance
The top four teams from each Division will advance to the Stanley Cup playoffs, with each round being a best of seven game series (first team to win four games advances). Each Division will have the playoff teams seeded #1, #2, #3 and #4. The first round will be #1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3. Winning teams of the first round will advance to the Division finals.
The second round of playoffs will determine the Division winners. Afterwards the NHL will reseed the four division winners based on regular season points. #1 seed vs. #4 seed and #2 seed vs. #3 seed will determine which two teams advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. There could be two “Western Conference” teams in the Finals or two “Eastern Conference” teams in the Finals. This is based on the NHL Conferences prior to the temporary alignment for 2020-2021.
No All-Star Game and Winter Classic in NHL Hockey 2021
Due to COVID crowd attending restrictions, the NHL has cancelled the 2020-2021 All Star Game and NHL Hockey 2021 outdoor Winter Classic Game. Instead the league will substitute these with two outdoor games at Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Lake Tahoe, California. Colorado vs. Las Vegas on 2/20/21 and Boston vs. Philadelphia on 2/21/21. I’ll need to rewatch the movie Mystery, Alaska to get prepared for those games.
NHL Hockey 2021 Rule Changes
Biggest NHL rule change for 2020-2021 is for offsides at the offensive blue line. An offensive player’s skate now does not have to be in contact with the blue line to be considered onside (i.e. skate can be above the ice due to jumping/completing a crossover). The blue line “plane” designation means no players have to drag their skate to touch the blue line. Hopefully this change should lead to more goals and hopefully fewer coaches challenges.
Additional Players on the Roster
Finally, taxi squad rosters are permitted to carry four to six additional players. This is due to potential Covid impacts, which should lead to some early season exposure for top prospects to get NHL game experience. Teams now are required to carry two goalies on a daily basis and one taxi goalie to ensure there’s a starting goalie available for every game. All coaches have to wear masks on the bench during games.
For more information about the NHL Reverse Retro jerseys for the 2021 season, please see this posting.
For more information about the NHL Hockey 2021 sixteen team playoff bracket predictions, please see this posting.
