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When the NHL's board of governors assemble for their quarterly gathering Thursday in that hockey hotbed of Pebble Beach, Calif. — motto: Have golf club, will travel — they will finally get around to addressing the quirks of the post-lockout schedule, the one that limits inter-conference play to 10 games per season.
How well has that scheduling format been received?
Consider that one week from now, the NHL's reigning most valuable player, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, will play in Western Canada for the first time in his career. Nearly 200 games into his professional life, Crosby will swing through Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver starting Dec. 5, giving fans there a chance to see him — live and in person — for the first time since he set foot in the league.
Naturally, interest in seeing Crosby play is far outstripping the available ticket supply. In Edmonton, which sold over 52,000 tickets for an outdoor game four years ago, they could probably sell almost as many for Crosby's debut.
"Our ticket demand has been very high," confirmed part-owner Cal Nichols, chairman of the Edmonton Investors Group (EIG). "I don't know if it would sell out Commonwealth Stadium, but it would certainly be a lot higher than we can provide."
The Oilers make an interesting case study on the divisive scheduling issue since they were the NHL's marquee attraction more than two decades ago, when they boasted the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey and Grant Fuhr in their line-up. The Oilers won five Stanley Cups in seven years, but even before they started winning in 1984, the presence of so many dynamic young stars made them an attractive visitor on the road. In the early days of the Original 21 era, teams played a completely balanced schedule — four games, two home and two away, against every team in the NHL.
It meant that Gretzky's Oilers visited Manhattan, the Windy City and Los Angeles a minimum of twice every season — and in the years when they drew the Kings or the Islanders in the playoffs, even more.
Had the current schedule — which features only 10 out-of-conference games per season, and a visit from each out-of-conference team just once every three years - been in place during Gretzky's heyday, he would have had limited exposure in all the key Eastern Conference markets, including Montreal and Toronto.
It's hard to imagine, if the shoe were on the other foot, the NHL would have put up with that sort of schedule for too long — and thus kept the Great One out of the major-market spotlight.
According to sources, when the governors do put the new scheduling matrix to a vote, they will almost certainly settle on a return to the pre-lockout schedule, which featured 18 out-of-conference games per season, up from the current 10. That would have the effect of reducing divisional play from eight games to six, something that the vast majority of teams not named Boston, New Jersey or the Islanders would support.
A more radical proposal — put forward by the Detroit Red Wings — would see every team play every other team in a home-and-home series. With six games against divisional opponents and three against conference opponents, that would bump the schedule up to 84 regular-season games.
There is some interest in the Red Wings' proposal (who, at the governors' level, wouldn't want to see an extra home date on the schedule?), but likely not enough to get the required two-thirds majority.
With three wild-card or at-large games included on the schedule, it also means that the Canadian teams can go back to playing each other, home-and-away, every season. This is the first year since Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver were admitted to the NHL, that they will not have Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa on their home schedules.
"I like the idea of Canadian teams playing Canadian teams," said Flames coach Mike Keenan, who previously coached in Vancouver as well. "I think it's good for the interest in Canada. We're all avid passionate hockey fans here. That would be a good choice for the NHL to make. I think it perks the interest of the fans — and you see your rivals enough in six games and the pre-season anyway."
In an extensive survey of fans in Oil Country, Nichols said the message that came through loud and clear.
"They want more variety," said Nichols. "If you see the same team too often, it gets a little boring. No discredit to the other teams. It's just human nature to think that way.
"We just had Colorado here, after seeing them only 10 days ago, and we know we're going to get them twice more. Whereas, we could feel the anticipation of Chicago coming in with their two young kids (last Saturday night), it was really high."
By reverting to the pre-lockout schedule, it means Crosby will visit every NHL city every other year. It isn't perfect, but a baby step forward is better than the alternative - the stuck-in-the-mud status quo, which no one with the best interests of the game in mind can defend any longer.
