Many puck heads would identify the early rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs as their favorite time of year. That's when the race still feels wide open, brimming with drama, intrigue, surprise and bitter competition.
So as March draws to a close, excited hockey fans check the schedule to see when the fun begins, only to find that it’s another week or two before the interminable regular season finally grinds to a halt.
In a perfect world, the Stanley Cup Playoffs would begin around April 1, a start date that would make the final weeks of the regular schedule more tolerable and rescue the Stanley Cup Final from purgatory.
Since 1992, the championship series has continued into June. The NHL short-changes itself by burying the main event in early summer. The Stanley Cup Final is usually worth watching, but even the most dedicated fans find their enthusiasm waning in June. Who can focus on hockey when there are gardens to plant, barbeques to tend and long summer evenings to enjoy?
It wouldn't take much to achieve this badly needed adjustment: simply chop 10 or 12 games from the regular season. 72 games is more than enough to decide 16 playoff qualifiers. A shorter regular season would also leave players with more energy for the games that really matter.
It would also allow a more flexibile playoff calendar. Up until 1989 it was routine for teams to open a Stanley Cup series with four games in five nights. Today's players and coaches demand more rest time, so a long series often feels drawn out, with too many off days. Cut two weeks from the regular season, and back-to-back playoff games might be a realistic option again.
Of course, dropping ten games means each team loses five home dates and the revenue that comes with them. NHL owners will vote to replace the puck with a beach ball before they give up that cash.
But many NHL players have been known to complain about the length of the season. Would they agree to a 10 per cent pay cut in return for a corresponding reduction in the schedule? After agreeing to a 24 per cent rollback in the summer of 2005, the answer is almost certainly no.
So it seems playoff hockey in June isn't going away anytime soon, no matter how many fans tune out.
