NHL to use Olympic break to make up postponed games. When could Panthers’ games be played?
The inevitable is now official.
The National Hockey League announced Wednesday morning that its players will not be participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing after a recent spike in COVID-19 cases upended the league’s season over the past two weeks, causing nine teams to be shut down before the league ultimately decided to start its holiday break two days early and shut the whole league down for five days.
The NHL has already postponed 50 games this season due to COVID-19-related issues, 45 of which were supposed to be played over an 11-day span from Dec. 13 to Thursday. Only two of those 50 games have been rescheduled and only one of those two have actually been played.
“The National Hockey League respects and admires the desire of NHL Players to represent their countries and participate in a ‘best on best’ tournament. Accordingly, we have waited as long as possible to make this decision while exploring every available option to enable our Players to participate in the 2022 Winter Olympic Games,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Unfortunately, given the profound disruption to the NHL’s regular-season schedule caused by recent COVID-related events — 50 games already have been postponed through Dec. 23 — Olympic participation is no longer feasible. We certainly acknowledge and appreciate the efforts made by the International Olympic Committee, the International Ice Hockey Federation and the Beijing Organizing Committee to host NHL Players but current circumstances have made it impossible for us to proceed despite everyone’s best efforts.”
Under the collective bargaining agreement, the league had until Jan. 10 to make its decision without financial penalty. This will be the second consecutive Olympic Games in which NHL players do not participate.
Both the NHL and NHL Players Association said in their respective statements that they look forward to players participating in the 2026 Olympics.
With NHL players no longer eligible for the Olympics, the league is using the two-and-a-half week break built into its schedule for Olympic participation — Feb. 6 - Feb. 22 — to reschedule postponed games.
NHL Players Association executive director Don Fehr acknowledged that players are “quite disappointed” not to be participating in the Olympics but also said he understands that “playing a full 82-game season this year, something the pandemic has prevented us from doing since the 2018-19 season, is very important.”
“No matter how much we wish it were not the case,” Fehr said in a statement, “we need to utilize the Olympic period to reschedule these games.”
“Our focus and goal have been and must remain to responsibly and safely complete the entirety of the NHL regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs in a timely manner, Bettman added.
The Florida Panthers currently have three games that need to be rescheduled: a road game against the Minnesota Wild, a road game against the Chicago Blackhawks and a home game against the Nashville Predators.
As for the home game, FLA Live Arena has events happening on Feb. 12, Feb. 14 and Feb. 17, leaving most of that Olympic break window open for its game against Nashville.
Xcel Energy Center, home of the Wild, has no events scheduled during that two-and-a-half week span according to its website.
Rescheduling the Blackhawks’ game will be the more difficult one. The Blackhawks share the United Center with the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, who have six home games during the time the NHL was supposed to be off (Feb. 6, Feb. 7, Feb 11, Feb. 12, Feb. 14 and Feb. 16). There is also a two-day Elton John concert on Feb. 4 and 5 as well as a Chris Tomlin concert on Feb. 19 and a Tyler the Creator concert on Feb. 22. That leaves just nine days open for the NHL to potentially try to fit three postponed Blackhawks home games, including its matchup with the Panthers.
Where Panthers rank at the break
With no NHL games being played until Monday, here’s a quick look at where the Panthers rank on both a team and individual level.
Team stats
▪ .690 points percentage: - Sixth in NHL, third in Atlantic division
▪ 3.55 goals per game: Third in NHL, behind only the Colorado Avalanche (4.22) and Minnesota Wild (3.63)
▪ 2.93: goals allowed per game: 18th in NHL
▪ 16.8 percent power play success rate: 25th in NHL
▪ 80 percent penalty kill success rate: tied for 16th in NHL
▪ 45.6 percent faceoff win rate: last in NHL
Individual player rankings
▪ Total points: Jonathan Huberdeau (33, tied for seventh)
▪ Total assists: Jonathan Huberdeau (23, 10th)
▪ Total goals: Aleksander Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau (10, tied for 51st)
▪ Hits: Radko Gudas (119, second); MacKenzie Weegar (77, 27th)
▪ Blocked shots: MacKenzie Weegar (64, tied for 10th)
▪ Plus-Minus: Aaron Ekblad (plus-17, tied for sixth); MacKenzie Weegar (plus-14, tied for 12th), Aleksander Barkov (plus-13, tied for 17th)
▪ Points among defensemen: Aaron Ekblad (24, eighth)
▪ Goals among defensemen: Aaron Ekblad (8, tied for third)
▪ Assists among defensemen: Aaron Ekblad (16, tied for 12th)
▪ Points among rookies: Anton Lundell (12, tied for 9th)
▪ Goals among rookies: Anton Lundell (5, tied for 10th)
▪ Assists among rookies: Anton Lundell (7, tied for 9th)
▪ Goaltender save percentage (min. 10 starts): Sergei Bobrovsky (.917, 15th)
▪ Goals against average (min. 10 starts): Sergei Bobrovsky (2.47, 12th)
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