NEWARK, N.J. -- The pandemic has changed a lot about hockey over the past 13 months, and almost none of it has been for the better.
The worst is that hundreds of games were played with no fans in attendance, and that even now crowd sizes are severely restricted in places where such gatherings still aren't outright banned. Players have been virtual prisoners in their hotel rooms on the road, barred from going to restaurants or even socializing in a teammate's room. Coaches, who spend a lot of time teaching and giving in-game instructions to their players, are obliged to do it while wearing a mask.
It's all very different and, most health officials believe, all very necessary to try to limit the exposure of team personnel to COVID-19.
Numerous issues, ranging from travel restrictions to the copious amounts of revenue teams lost when they couldn't sell tickets, forced the NHL to make some fundamental changes to the way it does business in the 2020-21 season. Divisions were temporarily reconfigured, with an even stronger emphasis on geographical groupings -- except for the North, which consists entirely of teams based in Canada -- and teams routinely have played two (or more) consecutive games when they've gone to a city.
That was an obvious and understandable attempt to hold down travel expenses, but has created an interesting dynamic, especially in the second of those games: The on-ice intensity seems to rise, usually taking the game's entertainment value with it.
Keeping that multiple-game format won't be possible much of the time when the league returns to its normal schedule -- four games against divisional opponents, three against the other clubs in the same conference and two against teams in the other conference -- next season, but it could be done for games inside the division and those in whatever city two games against a conference opponent would be contested.
For a lot of reasons, including lower travel costs and reduced wear-and-tear on players, it is a concept worth retaining.
YOUR TURN: Would you like to see the NHL continue to have teams play the same opponent in consecutive games?
