NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman addressed the gathered media at the NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis this evening, speaking on a variety of topics. The long-time leader of the league had plenty to say, including confirming a 2021 All-Star weekend hosted by the Florida Panthers and introducing the league’s All-Decade teams. Here are some notes on other topics that Bettman touched on:
- Player and puck tracking will become a reality in the NHL in the not too distant future. Bettman announced that the tracking technology will be available in all 16 arenas for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs and is likely to be operational in every NHL arena for the start of the 2020-21 season. The tracking data will allow for more accurate and polished statistics and game scoring, as well allowing for new stats and data visualizations that will further advance hockey analytics.
- The question of which arenas will have tracking this spring will depend on how the rest of the season plays out. However, one team is already being forced to focus on where they might play should they make the playoffs. Bettman stated that a decision has not yet been made as to whether the New York Islanders will play their postseason games at the Nassau Coliseum, the preferred location of the team, or the Barclay’s center. Bettman called Nassau a “challenge” and that it is not a major league facility, which would cause problems if the Islanders made a deep playoff run. Bettman also acknowledged that a request has been made for New York to play all of their home games at Nassau Coliseum next season, but believes it is too early to make that decision.
- One thing it is not too early for is continuing CBA talks. Bettman said that the league is expecting to go resume negotiations on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with the NHLPA soon, after enough progress was made back in September that both sides decided not to use their opt-out clauses. There is plenty of time before the current CBA expires in 2022, but Bettman and company are eager to build on positive talks and get a new deal in place.
- A bargaining issue that the NHL continues to hold firm on is Olympic participation. Bettman noted today that the league’s opinion that attending the Games is “extraordinarily disruptive” has not changed. He acknowledged that the players’ association would like to return to the Olympics, but that the league is comfortable without participating in Beijing in 2022. Bettman has not completely closed the door on the idea, but does not want to spread “false hope”. He added that the league will make a decision on their own time and will not abide by any deadline provided by the IIHF.
- Another major league change that has the support of many, but not the NHL itself, is a change to the current playoff format. Bettman revealed that there have been no talks of altering the current postseason structure, even in a season with drastic competitive balance differences between divisions. The upcoming addition of the Seattle expansion team is not expected to change the playoff format either.
1. Really, the tracking data will BEGIN the era of hockey analytics. What currently passes for hockey analytics is mostly bunk and rain dances, like defensive metrics in baseball but unlike the rest, which are actually useful.
Anything that ends talk of Corsi is a good thing.
2. The argument against the Olympics (that the disruption is not worth it) is also true of the All Star Game. I’m fine without any of it.
3. I LOATHE the bracket format. Dumbest thing the NHL ever did. They really truly believed that they could get casual fans and other people to be into their brackets like the NCAA tournament. It’s a total dud and now real fans are stuck with a boring playoff system. Bring back the 1-8 format.
Excellent points!
Two changes I’d like to see is 1: 3pts for relulation wins, which would create a bigger incentive to win games in regulation time, and 2: games can’t end while there’s still time left on a penalty. Why not chop someone’s stick in half with 5 seconds left on the clock if it leaves no time for the other team to be on the PP?
“Bettman called Nassau a “challenge” and that it is not a major league facility” — Bettman forgot about the FOUR consecutive cups won there in the 80’s.
@forwhomjoshbelltolls – Point 1 is SPOT ON! Hockey has been infested with junk math, that doesn’t pass muster in the real world. Invent-a-stat is BS. Point 2 is also good. Back in the old days, the ASG pitted the defending Cup Champs against the NHL All-Stars, in a semi-well-behaved real game. It was popular. The players have lost sight of the fact this is for the kids and for those of us who would settle for an honest best-on-best competition to make up for the Olympics absence. Point 3 is one I have been screaming for since this BS playoff format came into being. 1v8 for each conference!
That the team on ice 38 years ago was amazing says zero to the arena being up to snuff today.
“Bettman called Nassau a “challenge” and that it is not a major league facility, which would cause problems if the Islanders made a deep playoff run.”
Does the ice surface or size change in the playoffs at the Coliseum compared to the regular season? No. Are the areas where the cameras moved? No. Are there not enough places to park the tv trucks outside? No. In fact there are acres of space. Do thousands of seats disappear in the playoffs? Umm no. Do the locker rooms or benches disappear? The answer for every question imaginable is NO!! But the question with a no answer Bettman cares most about. Does the Nassau Coliseum have more luxury suites than Barclays? NO
And there it is folks. He cares about luxury suite revenue some of which goes to the NHL. Both arenas have similar seating capacities (when you subtract obstructed seating at Barclays). Nassau has thousands of parking spaces (which they charge a pretty penny to park in). It’s not a major league facility but we will let you play most of your regular season games there. Huh??
Bettman will never come straight out and say its a money grab but that is what it is. Funny thing though. When Charles Wang made the deal to move to Barclays Bettman said the same thing about that building. Not an NHL facility due to strange configuration and 15000 seats, thousands of which are obstructed. So he seems to have changed his mind about that rather quickly. If the Isles want to play at the Coliseum and are willing to take a financial hit, then let them.