Get Ready For Hockey In July
The NHL has announced the Stanley Cup playoffs would begin May 6 with the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. However, some games in the Eastern Conference may be moved to May 7 to accommodate the national TV schedule.
The Western Conference quarterfinals are scheduled to begin May 7.
All series will be played with a bestof-seven format, with the home-ice advantage rotating on a 2-2-1-1-1 basis, with the exception of any series pitting a Central Division team against a Pacific Division team. Because of travel concerns in those matchups, the higher-ranked team has the choice of playing 2-2-1-1-1 or 2-3-2.
The Stanley Cup finals will have a 2-2-1-1-1 format, and the last possible day for them to end is July 1.
If they build it …
Denver’s chance of getting an NHL team may hinge on the decision of a government thousands of miles away.
The majority owner of the Quebec Nordiques, Marcel Aubut, has asked the government to build an arena and finance his team’s debt while the facility is being constructed.
If Aubut’s request, expected to be answered by mid-May, is rejected, Comsat Video Enterprises, which owns the Denver Nuggets, likely will make a strong bid to bring the Nordiques to Denver.
“Mr. Aubut has written approval from his board of directors to either move or sell the franchise if he doesn’t get sufficient help from the government,” Nordiques spokesman Jean Martineau said. “The people that own this company won’t go bankrupt just because hockey is a big thing here.”
Nordiques officials said they expect to lose between $10 million and $12 million next season.
Ice talk
Those unpredictable New York Rangers are on the verge of becoming the first NHL club in 25 years to miss the playoffs after winning that shiny silver cup the previous season. The last time such a calamity occurred was in 1970, when the Montreal Canadiens, who won the Stanley Cup in 1969, spent the springtime watching the playoffs from home. …
Since 1980, gambling Glen Sather, the general manager of the Edmonton Oilers, has been the most active trader at the trade deadline. According to the NHL, the Oilers have made 27 trades on deadline day since 1980. The Vancouver Canucks are second, with 22 deals on D-Day. There were 19 trades at the deadline this season - the most yet. However, the 32 players who changed teams fell short of last year’s record of 35.