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Sports Talk: A 31-team playoff in the NHL? Of course PK Subban would approve

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Here's a look inside the Huntington Centre, home base for the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL. The league cancelled whatever was left of its season, leaving players who were making very little to begin with in an even tougher spot. photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

So we're hearing plenty of tips on how to stay safe during the Covid-19 deal. The Malaysian government came up with its own tips on April 1 and, no, it wasn't an April Fools joke. A tweet from the country's Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development late last month urged women to do this: refrain from nagging their husbands, don't be sarcastic, dress up nice and wear make-up. Naturally, it didn't go down too well and an apology was issued on March 31 along with a discontinuation of the campaign. You know, had they stopped at the nagging deal, I think more people would have been OK with it.
Anyway ...

Here's a look inside the Huntington Centre, home base for the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL. The league cancelled whatever was left of its season, leaving players who were making very little to begin with in an even tougher spot.
photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

You get a spot, you get a spot ...

What to do with the National Hockey League when – and if – it returns this season is the big question.

I had a conversation with someone in a supermarket one evening during the Covid-19 toilet paper panic buying frenzy and he came up with the idea of having each team get to 72 games and start the playoffs with whoever met the requirements once that number was reached.

I liked that idea because it made sense. It brought finality to the season – shortened as it may be – but at least everyone got to play the same number of games and everyone knew where they finished.

Which is why the idea of a 31-team NHL playoff is perhaps the worst idea that has been floated thus far.

Why bother with the regular season if that's what the format will be? There's a reason you play the regular season: to determine who moves on for the right to play for the big prize. I thought we were past all of this everyone-gets-a-trophy nonsense when adults came into play. This isn't some little kids league where even if you get blown away in every game or only win one game all season long, you still get the same size trophy the eventual champions get so we don't hurt any feelings and the ego of the overbearing parent who, for some reason, has more invested in the outcome of the fifth-tier squirt house league than their child does, remains intact.

Naturally, players like PK Subban, who plays for the New Jersey Devils, would be all for it. Why? Because it means his bottom-feeding squad would have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. I'm sure if you polled the Detroit Red Wings roster, they would be up for a deep run into the playoffs as well ... considering they've been the worst team in the NHL all season long.

As far as I'm concerned, you take the divisional leaders right now, line them up in a round-robin tournament in Belarus (remember, that's the only country with actual professional sports actually happening right now) and whoever comes out on top wins the Stanley Cup. Keep the crappy teams away from this and don't let PK Subban anywhere near the playoffs.

Meanwhile in the minors ...

On a more serious note, spare a thought for those players in the lower echelons of professional sport. The ones who aren't on guaranteed seven or eight-figure contracts. The ones who depend on their sport for a paycheque.

Everyone who plays below the top is on a much lower pay scale and unless they have a contract with the big club – one-way or two-way – they aren't getting anything.

I was reading about the struggles of those in the ECHL, the AA-level of professional hockey, two levels below the NHL. All of these guys have been out of work since mid-March and the playoffs have been cancelled. That means their average weekly salary of $700 is gone and any bonus money they would have made for a deep playoff run is gone as well.

Now, the players are quick to point out that there are those who are worse off than they are and they're right. Anytime you think you have it tough, remember that there's someone who has it rougher than you have it and there are people in very rough times right now. The only real blessing for the players is that their health insurance has been guaranteed until June 30. That's something in a world which provides nothing for them at the present time.

They're like everyone else in the same situation: how do I afford to get to next month? The only hope for them right now is next season. If there is a next season.

And finally ...

Good Idea: Travelling to see your son because he's ill.

Bad Idea: Being fined for travelling to see your son because he's ill.

Listen, I get that we shouldn't travel or go anywhere far because of Covid-19 but if I was away from my family and something happened to them, you'd need to kill me to stop me from going to them.

Jerome Boateng, who plays with Bayern Munich of the German Bundesliga, was fined by the team because he left Munich while the German state of Bavaria was under lockdown because of the virus.

The reason he left? His son was ill. Being a father, he wanted to be near his son at his time of need. And let's be honest – wouldn't you want to be by your child's side if he or she was ill or needed help? That's what you do as a parent. Like I said, I need to be dead to not be near my children if they were in need.

To Boateng's credit, he took the punishment and the team has said the fine would be donated to children's hospitals in Munich. Fine, alright, but what a terrible move by the club. What they should have done was quietly take him aside and tell him to make a donation in lieu of a fine so the team could announce that he left in contravention of team and state regulations but Boateng made a donation in lieu of a fine because he realized his mistake.

Public relations and what they are for $400, Alex.

Until next time, folks ...