The Covid-19 pandemic will bring seismic changes to all aspects of sports, some temporary and some permanent. There are leagues that may not start their season on time, or at all. Others will deal with the potential of part or all of their season being played without fans. Anyone who walks into an arena, gym, or stadium will be walking into a very different way of going about their business. It's not just players and coaches. It's referees, the media, the support staff who work game day, the off field/ice/court officials who are so integral to every game, and of course the fans, if they are allowed into the venue.
Given that I work with the O.H.L. as a TV broadcaster, that is the league that I am going to focus on for what will potentially become the "new nor-....". OK, pause here for a second as there is no phrase, or saying that I despise more than the one that I tried to write but could not. I'm like The Fonz when he had to apologize and couldn't say the words "I'm Sorry", so for the purpose of this endeavor I am The Fonz and will try and find many different ways to say that things will change without using that annoying phrase. OK, back from that tangent, so lets see how the Ontario Hockey League will look should they be able to start in September like they have been promising, or even if they start late.
The Ontario Hockey League abruptly stopped play the same time that other major sports did once it was determined that Covid-19 was a pandemic. They, along with the Western Hockey League (W.H.L.) and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (Q.M.J.H.L. or the "Q") did not crown a champion, nor did they play the Memorial Cup for the first time in over 100 years. The Memorial Cup was supposed to be in Kelowna, B.C. They will get the tournament in 2022 while Oshawa and Sault Ste Marie will vie for the 2021 tournament. That is expected to be named in the next couple of months, and the Canadian Hockey League has indicated that there is some flexibility as to when to hold the tournament.
ISSUE #1: TRAVEL
It has been acknowledged that one of the better case scenario's would be to reduce travel, as well as overnight trips on the road. For this I am very thankful that I am proposing solutions for the Ontario Hockey League and not the Western Hockey League where lengthy road trips are unavoidable. Their solutions will have to be very creative. For the Ontario Hockey League, the first thing that should be considered is realignment based on geography. The way that the league is set up right now is not bad by any stretch of the imagination but there are a couple of teams that don't fit in the division that they are in due to relocation. Also, lets have some fun and attach well known and iconic figures to the divisions.
EASTERN CONFERNCE:
DIVISION 1: The Brian Kilrea Division
Ottawa
Kingston
Peterborough
Oshawa
Mississauga
Comments: Mississauga probably fits in the Cameron division better, and it would make for a minimal travel schedule in that division if Mississauga was placed there, but then what would you do with Erie, who are the only team from Pennsylvania and do not really fit in that well geographically. In the end if Erie was in the Kilrea division their divisional road trips would be fairly long. The trip to Ottawa alone is 684 km, or in excess of 7 hours on the road. Try doing that in the dead of winter. In the Cameron division it would be between 150 and 300 km essentially, so sorry Mississauga, you lost your cushy travel schedule and either have to use the 407 a lot or fight Toronto traffic on most of your road trips. The rest seemed to sort it self out and featured no change from the old alignment . Certainly there will be some overnight trips but when you have Ottawa in your division, it's almost inevitable. Lets face it. If Ottawa was one of your overnighters, that's not a bad place to be stationed. There's tons to do in the capital city.
DIVISION 2: The Don Cameron Division
Niagara
Hamilton
Kitchener
Guelph
Erie
Comments: Four out of the five teams will be thrilled with this division geographically, especially Hamilton and Niagara. Hamilton gets removed from a division that had them going to Kingston, Ottawa and Peterborough a lot and Niagara will be happy to not have to make regular northern swings to Sudbury and North Bay. Kitchener and Guelph, who play against each other a lot, will welcome the close geographical proximity that Hamilton and Niagara bring more than once a year. Erie, as I said, is kind of like the round peg in the square hole here, but they are better served in this division travel wise than the Kilrea division. This division is really good for travel and there would be no overnight trips within this division. The only downside is that I'm not sure that the teams in this division will be thrilled with four border crossings. Would Mississauga be ideal here? Sure, the travel would be a dream and you would be the envy of all teams in the WHL or Q where you're split between multiple provinces.
DIVISION 3: The Wayne Gretzky Division
North Bay
Sudbury
Barrie
Owen Sound
Sault Ste Marie
Comment: OK, so Owen Sound and Sault Ste Marie get the focus here as they move to almost a completely new divisions while Barrie, Sudbury and North Bay remain together from their old division. Owen Sound might be a little put out given that it's quite a hike to the Soo and no picnic getting to the other teams in the division. Only a trip to Barrie is under four hours It makes Owen Sound a tough team to place. The travel is not ideal for the Soo either but that's not unexpected. Their travel ranges from around 225 km to almost 700 km. North Bay , Sudbury and Barrie are all intimately familiar with traveling their circuit. There will be some overnight trips here, but I'll try and address that after this.
DIVISION 4: The Michael Moore Divis-- just kidding The Dale Hunter Division (which should be a real popular choice
London
Sarnia
Windsor
Flint
Saginaw
Comments: London loses all of its divisional rivals from the old system, but the travel is not to onerous for them as they have two relatively short trips to Windsor and Sarnia, and then two cross border trips. Of course the issue with London is that the Windsor and Sarnia trips are the single most boring trips known to mankind unless you count staring at nothing while travelling on a highway as engaging. You could watch a dog run away for 10 km the London to Windsor journey is so flat. I'd rather have Dale Hunter glare at me for a whole road trip than look out the window on the 402 or 401 to Windsor. There's nothing wrong with the cities themselves, but the drives, well, you get the picture . Given their proximity to the border, Windsor and Sarnia are central locations, and Flint and Saginaw are used to packing their passports for many a road trip.
OVERALL:
I'd probably lump Division 1 and 2 as one conference and 3 and 4 as another one, but I'm open other incarnations. Overnight trips are unavoidable in some cases. I'm not sure I'd want teenagers to do an 800 km road trip without a hotel. Staying in a hotel will take a whole lot of other precautions that I will leave to the experts. Hamilton and Niagara seemed to be most misplaced teams, but they were franchises that were moved out of other cities that were more geographically convenient to a certain extent. Of course these divisions are far from ideal, but that's what you get when you have a league that stretches from Ottawa to Windsor going east to west and as far north as Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, North Bay etc. I'm far from a geography whiz so I'm not sure which is the most northern point in the OHL. Other people may have other interpretations and that's fine, but I don't think I'm way out of the stratosphere here.
THE SCHEDULE:
I am far from a mathematician, but here is how I break down the schedule. I do not know if it is going to work, but should be a rough guideline on how to create a more travel friendly schedule.
DIVISIONAL GAMES- 8 games: 4 on the road and 4 at home =32 games
CONFERENCE GAMES - 4 games: 2 on the road and 2 at home = 20 games
OUT OF CONFERENCE GAMES- 2 GAMES- weekend home series or one game vs certain opponents = 16 games
Ok, so that sort of worked mathematically. but it is unbalanced as there are 10 teams in the other conference and only 16 games to play with, so you either go two games with 8 teams and drop your two longest road trips, or rotate skipping a team. You can also go with home and home with 6 teams and then just one game with 4 teams. What I am proposing is for the out of conference games you play back to back in the same arena, alternating every year. Its kind of the way the ECHL approaches things on longer road trips where sometimes they play 3 games in a weekend like baseball. A really unique schedule could see teams play two out of conference games in the same day and maybe avoid the hotel, but I'm not sure if the doubleheader approach lends itself to hockey, but I don't think you can dismiss it entirely. Even conference and division games can have the home and home approach where teams play Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday in the same venue. It's just one of many interpretations and hypotheses that may work. The one thing with scheduling is you can manipulate it a lot, but the key thing is to maximize games with less travel. This should provide a rough framework.
PLAYOFFS
For the competitor in me I'd love to see a 16 team playoff with 1 vs 16, 2 vs 15 etc. but that might kind of blow geographical convenience out the window, so it's best to stay within your division for the first round. This might build up rivalries, but on the downside it could get repetitive if you play an opponent 8 x during a year and then in the playoffs. I am fine with keeping in the division for the first round. The pairings might be more competitive than a 1-8 or 1-16 type format, and there would be plenty of built in intensity from the regular season. Oshawa v Peterborough, Niagara vs Hamilton, London vs Windsor in the first round potentially? I'd take that in a heart beat. Playing it safe would mean that you keep the same playoff structure as before with the division winners getting the 1 and 2 seed. Still a Sweet Sixteen format would be awfully fun though wouldn't it?
OTHER ISSUES FOR WHICH I DON'T HAVE AN ANSWER FOR
CROSS BORDER TRAVEL: All sport leagues are facing this, so whatever solution is found for all sports leagues will have to take into consideration cross border travel, so if the solution is good enough for the NHL, MLB, hopefully it will work for the OHL.
BILLETING: This will likely be the number one issue for when the OHL returns to play. Do you really want your son to stay with another family, given that physical distancing has and will likely continue to be preached going forward? One solution would be to have players live at home within reason. Maybe that leads to more trades for geographical reasons? Maybe not. You could use university or college dorms if they go online, but eventually students are coming back to campus and then where are the players going to go? Do they cook, or do they get food brought in? Lots of questions there. Overagers or older players can live in apartments, but you don't want too many players in that situation. Here's a wild scenario. Maybe some players could stay/live at the arena if they put in cots. it's easy to social distance that way. Of course it's hardily the most comfortable place to be, and likely will arouse the ire, of well, everyone! Hey, we are looking for out of the box solutions. Maybe players can rent out houses and have a reality show? That idea might be just as bad as the "live at the arena" idea.
FANS IN THE STANDS: If we concede that the OHL cannot operate without fans in the buildings, then we are looking at reduced capacities so that social and physical distance can be honored. An arena that could seat 5,000 might only be able to have 2000-2500 capacity for example. I do not think it will be business as usual crowd wise when the OHL ramps up. Of course a delayed start to the season could help solve that and we still have four months where a lot can change. Revenues almost certainly will be down as fans may feel a little more unsafe and a lot of people's financial situations will have changed and they may not be able to afford the discretionary income needed to go to games. It might mean that TV and radio coverage becomes all the more important as fans still crave that link to their team but can't go to as many games.
CONCLUSIONS:
A lot can change in four months and all that I've written may be moot and it could be business as usual , but I'm betting that there will be a ton of logistics to work out and more. What about dressing rooms? Those will have to be sanitized. How about buses? Can't fit everyone on the bus and physical distance. Do players and coaches drive themselves, so there's less people on the bus? That leads to a host of insurance issues. How about the Russia Series, the Prospects Games? Do they get played? Each solution might bring more questions than answers. This likely will be one of the most interesting off seasons in recent OHL history. Lets's hope that it is not an extended off season. We need entertainment and escapism in our lives, and that is what sports provides.
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