While not thrilled with the format, Cam Neely is ready for hockey

In the grand scheme of things, Cam Neely is like any other hockey lifer. He’s thrilled there is now a plan in place — God and downward coronavirus trends willing — for the NHL to make a return and crown a Stanley Cup champion.

But as you might expect, the Bruins team president was a bit miffed that his club, which was beginning to run away with the top seed in the Eastern Conference, will have to play a three-game round robin tournament with the three other top teams in the conference to determine the seeding. The B’s had opened up an eight-point lead on second-place Tampa Bay at the time of the pause but now they could start the 16-team playoffs (after the eight play-in series) as low as fourth.

“Obviously, a little disappointed with what the team was able to accomplish the first 70 games and the kind of point spread we had between not only the teams in the league but the teams in our conference and division. To have three games dictate where we fall in the conference standings is somewhat disappointing,” said Neely in a Zoom call on Wednesday. “But the fact remains that these are uncharted times for everybody and we’re just hoping we can get back on the ice and play some meaningful hockey games.”

Neely said he had no problem with the 24-team format, but felt that simply playing some stakes-free tuneup games would have been enough to get his team ready for when the play-in series winners were determined and the real playoffs began.

“I was involved with some discussions with the league on the format on what some of the options were and I expressed my feelings about where it was headed, but for the good of the game this is what they thought was best,” said Neely, who is in favor of reseeding over brackets, a detail that is still being worked out. “I know they talked about some competitive games when the play-in rounds were going on, but from my perspective I felt that the players would be amped up and ready to go regardless of if there were round robin games or games to get ready for the playoffs, knowing that other teams were playing competitive games.”

While it’s a legitimate beef, the drawbacks of a lower seed are not as deleterious as they would have been under normal circumstances. While they could face a tougher opponent in the first round of the 16-team tourney, there’s no real home ice advantage to be had (with the exception of last change).

And while Neely may have some relatively minor quibbles with the format, he feels unequivocally that the eventual Cup champion should not have an asterisk next to its name because of the unusual manner by which it will be crowned.

“We’ve had shortened seasons, whether it’s lockouts or strikes and have had Stanley Cup champions and I don’t recall seeing asterisks beside those, so I don’t see that this is any different,” said Neely, who believes teams will get a couple of exhibition games before competition begins. “The playoff format has changed in the history of the NHL, the number of games per round has changed. I still think if you’re going to have to play four rounds and beat those teams, I don’t see why there needs to be an asterisk beside the Stanley Cup champion.”

It’s been speculated that younger teams will have an easier time going from 0 to 60 in a short span. Brad Marchand himself has said that. But Neely hopes his team’s experience and leadership from veterans like Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask, Torey Krug and Marchand will work in the B’s favor.

He also believes the players will re-ignite that “unfinished business” mentality with which they started the season after losing a heartbreaking Game 7 in the Cup Final to the Blues.

“It’ll be interesting to see once we’re back up and in training camp. I know we’ve got a group of guys who are very dedicated and committed and obviously know where the team was at the pause and what the possibilities were going into the playoffs,” said Neely. “Nothing’s a guarantee as we all know, but I think our guys recognize we had a legitimate chance to do well and have a deep run in the playoffs. Obviously our goal all along is to win Stanley Cups. That goal is not going to change.

“From what I understand and in talking to some of the guys, they’re anxious and excited. Obviously, they still have some questions and concerns about how this is all going to play out, but everybody still wants to play hockey.”

The first step toward that end is the league’s Phase 2, which allows for informal voluntary workouts for no more than six players at a time. That could begin within the next couple of weeks, provided the B’s get the go-ahead from the authorities to open up the Warrior Arena facilities. While there are a number of players who remained in the Boston area, Neely did not have a full list of players who will be returning to Boston for this portion of the Return to Play plan.

“We’re going through that list right now. We’re connecting with the players and seeing what their plans are,” said Neely. “It’s voluntary, so were looking at when we can get the ice down. I think most of the players are more interested in getting on the ice right now because a lot of them have been off the ice for the longest in their careers, probably the longest since they started playing serious hockey. Once we can figure out when we can get the ice down we’ll see more and more players trickling in.”

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3c7EDG3