LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER

There's that old cliché that you'll never please everyone.
But when it comes to the NHL's freshly unveiled 24-team return-to-play format, kudos to the authors and architects.
They really delivered a winner with this one.
"It's really exciting," said Flames general manager Brad Treliving Tuesday night. "Everybody's gone through a tough time - some, more than others, obviously. But the way I look at it is the fact that we're even talking about hockey again is a sign that things are starting to move in the right direction and are trending positively from a medical standpoint.
"Today's a good day."

Naturally, the public health side of the equation is a moving target the NHL will be keeping us all apprised of in the weeks and months ahead.
But with the matter of health and safety "paramount" in the league's eyes, commissioner Gary Bettman revealed Tuesday a plan to not only re-start the season, but to maintain the integrity and competitive balance that makes the chase for the Cup such a formidable grind.
Under the plan, the top four teams in each conference will receive a bye through a 'qualifying' round, while the eight others - per side - battle it out in a best-of-five. The winners advance to face the top teams, who will simultaneously play a round-robin-style tournament to determine the seeding.
Under these rules, the eighth-ranked Flames will face the ninth-seeded Winnipeg Jets to advance.
"The biggest issue for us, as players, was to maintain the credibility of the playoffs," captain Mark Giordano said. "We wanted something similar to what we've all experienced in the past, which was to win four best-of-seven series' to win the Stanley Cup
"This format does that and legitimizes the whole thing, as far as I'm concerned.
"You have to applaud what the league and all the player representatives were able to come up. I mean, you couldn't really penalize teams who were right on the bubble of making the playoffs and would either be out based straight on points percentage, our because they didn't play enough games to get there. This was a great compromise.
"I know some teams weren't happy, but for the most part, I think the most were pleased with it."

While some have suggested the eventual Cup winner will have their celebration marred by an asterisk due to the coronavirus pandemic, 2011 champ Milan Lucic says the criticism is unjustified, pointing to some historical data when making the playoffs at all
was more of a sure bet.
"Back in the day when there were 21 teams, 16 of them made the playoffs," he said. "So, when you look at the percentages now, it's kind of back to that.
"In this instance, sure, it gives certain teams some extra life to make a push and maybe even win the Stanley Cup. But this is about as fair as you could make it."
Under this plan, teams from each conference will be located in one of two 'hub' cities, with secure hotels, arena, practice facilities and in-market transportation, along with a robust testing platform, being the focus for each.

The two cities have yet to be chosen, with Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Edmonton, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Pittsburgh, Toronto and Vancouver all in contention.
The timing of which has yet to be determined, with the COVID-19 conditions in each community guiding the NHL's decision making.
Bettman expects to have the two cities named sometime in the next three to four weeks.
In the meantime, players are gearing up to re-fire the competitive engines after an unprecedented layoff.
Before teams return to game action, training camps will be conducted in each of the clubs' home cities, and will begin no earlier than July 1.
"It's definitely not the same situation as in 2012-13 when the lockout ended," Lucic laughed. "When the lockout's over, boom, you're right back to playing. But in this case, there's still a lot of things that need to be addressed, so that's why I'm cautiously optimistic. There's still - in my mind - a long way to go until we actually do get back on the ice.
"You make plans, but things can change within a day - or even within the hour - during a pandemic."
Understandably, questions relating to testing, quarantine practices, health and safety will be addressed in due time. Currently, the NHL is taking its cues from government sources, along with a host of medical experts to advise on next steps.
"Now, we wait and see," said interim head coach Geoff Ward. "Our health experts and frontline workers have done such a great job in keeping us all safe and informed throughout the process.
"When we're allowed to, we'll head back to the rink and prepare our team.
"What happened earlier in the year, that matters. That matters because guys remember what our game's all about and what they need to do in order to have success.
"Guys have confidence in our game when we play it well. So, our goal is to get back to that level as quickly as possible."

Currently, there is no set date on when the season could resume.
And we might not know for a while yet.
That said, the NHL is doing an excellent job identifying the risks, establishing a protocol, and not rushing to judgment at a time when any misstep could result in failure.
For that, 'planning' is the key word.
That's all the league - and the remaining 24 teams in the mix - can do at this point after such an abrupt halt to the business.
"Let's be honest," Treliving said. "This is uncharted, right? Everybody's been through different situations and our team is certainly going to try and draw on the experiences of the first 70-or-so games, but this is a whole new can of worms here that everybody's dealing with.
"You prepare as best you possibly can. It's going to be a new experience for everybody when you consider the environment that we're going to be playing in.
"But when you boil it all down, the people that determine it are the players.
"When the puck drops, whether you have a full building or not, these are elite athletes are competitive by nature. They love it.
"And I think that's going to rise to the fore."