24-Team Playoff

Braden Holtby is a hard no on the 24-team playoff

The 24-team playoff featured six elimination games on Friday that kept hockey fans glued to their seats from noon to 1:30 AM. Elimination Friday saw five teams knocked out of the tournament, including the Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers who feature two of the biggest superstars in the league, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid. Both 12 seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference advanced adding to the unpredictability and excitement.

With all that good hockey, hockey fans and analysts have become more open to this playoff format replacing what the NHL had before, expanding the number of playoff teams, and permanently introducing a play-in round.

One player who is 100 percent not on board with this is Braden Holtby

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By Ian Oland 4 months ago

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NBC to present at least 10 hours of wall-to-wall NHL Qualifying Round action from August 1-5

The NHL and NBC released its broadcast schedule for the 24-team playoff beginning on August 1. And dear lord, it’s an unfathomable amount of hockey.

My best advice is to wash your best pair of sweatpants and submit your vacation time now. Say goodbye to your significant other, children, and pets. You will be entering a bubble just like your favorite NHL players. Except your bubble will be near your TV and made out of empty pizza boxes and the stench of someone who hasn’t showered for days.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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NHL announces date change for Capitals-Bruins round robin game

The NHL announced Monday that the Capitals-Bruins game (which you may not have known was on August 8) will now be played on Sunday, August 9.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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Report: NHL plans to put feeds of games on five-second delay to ‘monitor’ cursing

Tom Wilson recently told reporters that he’s going to try to stop cursing during games due to no fans being allowed in arenas during the playoffs. “It’ll be weird,” he said. “I’m gonna have to watch, I guess what I’m saying. Less f-words and stuff like that.”

Now, according to a report from former Sportsnet analyst John Shannon, Wilson will no longer have to worry.

The NHL is planning to put broadcasts on a five-second delay to “monitor the players’ language” during games. One would assume this means that those naughty words will not make it on-air, which is both a relief for parents and a disappointment for older hockey fans who were hoping to know what players say to each other unfiltered during games.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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Edmonton’s Rogers Place floods two weeks before start of the NHL playoffs

2020 has struck again. Rogers Place, one of two restart arenas slated to be used for the NHL playoffs, flooded on Thursday.

A severe thunderstorm rumbled through Edmonton pummeling the city dime-sized hail, torrential rainfall, and flash flooding, according to the Edmonton Sun.

Rogers Place’s entrance off 104th Avenue flooded. The building also had other leaks inside.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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NHL announces times and dates of exhibition games and qualifying round

The NHL announced the times and dates of the exhibition games that will be held before the start of the 24-team playoff.

12 exhibition games will happen in the NHL’s two hub cities – six in Toronto and Edmonton. The games will be held over a period of three days from July 28 to July 30.

As previously announced by Todd Reirden, the Washington Capitals will play the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday, July 29 at 4 PM in Scotiabank Arena.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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The Washington Capitals will play the Carolina Hurricanes in their one exhibition game before the 24-team playoff

The Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes, geographic neighbors and budding rivals, will play against each other before the start of the 24-team playoff’s round-robin an play-in round. The Capitals game will be held on Wednesday, July 29 at 4 PM. All 24 NHL teams will play one exhibition game before the playoffs officially begin.

Capitals head coach Todd Reirden announced the news during his daily press conference after the second day of Phase 3 Training Camp.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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Former Capital Mike Green opts out of playoffs due to ‘uncertainties surrounding COVID-19’ and ‘deeply personal family health reasons’

Former Capital Mike Green was one of seven players who opted out of the 24-team playoff due to COVID-19 concerns on Friday and Saturday. Green, a two-time Norris Trophy finalist earlier in his career, was acquired by the Edmonton Oilers at the trade deadline from the Detroit Red Wings. The Oilers will play the Chicago Blackhawks in a best-of-five play-in series.

“Due to the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19 and after much consideration, I’ve decided for deeply personal family health reasons, not to participate in the return to play,” Green said in a statement.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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Source: NBC Sports Washington to air Washington Capitals games in the round robin and first round

Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin’s season is not over quite yet.

According to a source who asked not to be named, NBC Sports Washington will air Washington Capitals games in the round robin and the first round of the playoffs locally if the NHLPA approves the new CBA and return-to-play protocols. That means Beninati, Laughlin, and analyst Alan May will be back on our televisions for seven to 10 games before handing off to NBC Sports and Sportsnet for national coverage throughout the rest of the postseason.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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Key dates revealed for 24-team playoff, Stanley Cup Final, NHL Draft, Free Agency, and start of 2020-21 season

TSN’s Frank Seravalli is reporting the key dates for the rest of the season and the start of next.

The 2020 Stanley Cup Final will be hosted in Edmonton and tentatively begin on September 20. The SCup will be presented no later than October 2, meaning it might still be possible to swim in fountains if the Capitals are able to win it all again.

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By Ian Oland 5 months ago

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