Since he has been quarantining with his family in Sweden, Mikael Backlund has been sharing his duties as the National Hockey League Players’ Association representative with Matthew Tkachuk and Travis Hamonic.
The latter two have been involved in calls lately regarding the NHL’s ‘Return to Play’ initiative while Backlund had been a more active participant at the start of the league’s pause on the 2019-20 season.
But all three likely would have been privy to Thursday’s announcements from the NHL which included a detailed playoff format when games can resume.
Later in the evening, the NHL announced it would also be transitioning into Phase 2 on June 8 which will allow NHL clubs to reopen training facilities for players to participate in individualized, voluntary training activities on- and off-ice. That means that technically the Flames will be able to reconvene at Scotiabank Saddledome in small groups, following Alberta Health Services guidelines and local, provincial, and national government regulations.
The plan clarified the series length of the qualifying round which would pit the Flames against the Winnipeg Jets in a best-of-five series. All other rounds (first, second, Conference finals, and Stanley Cup Final) would be best-of-seven showdowns.
It also defined the ‘seeding’ format in succeeding rounds of the playoffs in which the highest remaining seed in each Conference will face the lowest remaining seed, etc, the round-robin tie-breaker and home ice determinations.
All of which are subject to an official deal between the NHL and the NHLPA, which hinges, of course, on local and national health restrictions around COVID-19 policies.
Backlund approves of the format, should the 2020 NHL playoffs proceed.
“I think it’s a hard situation to make everyone, the League and the PA, happy,” Backlund said. “They’ve done a good job. It feels like we have to play games to make the playoffs where we were sitting in the eighth spot or seventh spot if you don’t count the percentage. I felt that it was fair. But it’s hard to make everyone happy. I still feel that this is the best scenario for the league and the players and to get as many teams involved.
“It’s only two teams that get a free card here, the rest of the teams were in the race … the five games to start is a good idea. I mean, you could struggle in three games and it could be over but it’s the same for all the teams.”
“Even when we start playing, if we do play, it’s going to matter right away. So, I hope I find my ‘A’ game right away. But if it takes one or two games, it’s been a while.”
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
