The Winnipeg Jets and the rest of the franchises around the NHL have learned the basics of how the 2021 season will operate.
Last night the NHL and the NHLPA finally came to terms on an agreement regarding the 2021 NHL season. This is great news for everyone around the hockey world and it is interesting to see how these plans impact the Winnipeg Jets.
There will be some major changes to how this season will run compared to prior years. Some of these changes include a new, shorter schedule, realigned divisions, and intradivisional playoffs.
The Schedule
All hockey fans should mark Jan. 13, 2021, on their calendars. This is the date that the first puck will drop to kick off the season. Training camp will begin for teams that did not make the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs/qualifiers on December 31st. For teams that did make last year’s postseason, training camp is scheduled to begin on January 3rd.
Each team will play a 56-game schedule against divisional opponents only. That means the Jets will play each team in their division nine or ten times. This schedule can definitely cause some rivalries between teams. In recent years the most teams would face off against each other is four times, but now they will see each other almost ten times.
The regular season will end on May 8th.
The North Division
As we mentioned above, the Jets will play nine or ten games against each of their divisional opponents. But who is in the Jets’ new division?
The Jets are situated in the new “North Division.” This division is compromised of all the seven Canadian franchises and is the smallest division in the new realignment. Jets head coach, Paul Maurice, seems excited about the Jets’ new division and said it is going to be “awesome.”
For the 2021 campaign, there will be four divisions with seven or eight teams in each. The divisions are aligned by geographic location and will feature a North, West, Central, and East divisions.
The full realignment can be found in this tweet below:
The @NHLPA and @NHL have announced an agreement to play a 2020-21 regular-season schedule of 56 games beginning on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. https://t.co/2on0oStnMd pic.twitter.com/aggYeVMjfj
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 20, 2020
When looking at these divisions there are already some eye-popping matchups and some great historic rivalry matchups. This will make for some great viewing and rivalries will only get more fierce as teams are only facing off against other teams in their division throughout the season.
Stanley Cup Playoffs
The playoffs will culminate the same way as the years prior, except there is a slight tweak to the format. To win the cup you will still need to win four best-of-seven series.
The first two rounds of this year’s playoffs are against your division only. The first round will feature the number one seed in each division playing the number four seed, while the number two seed will face off against the number three seed.
The winners of the first round will play each other in a division championship game. Each division winner will make it to the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals where we will see the first non-divisional matchup of the year.
The two winners of the semi-finals will face off in the best-of-seven series for the Stanley Cup which is scheduled to conclude in mid-July.
Remaining Questions
Due to the restrictions on the worldwide pandemic, it is still unclear where some teams will play their home games. According to the Winnipeg Jets website:
"It is the current plan to play games in the home arenas of participating teams while understanding that most arenas will not, at least in the initial part of the season, be able to host fans. However, depending on prevailing conditions both in local markets and across North America, the League will be prepared to play games in one or more “neutral site” venues per division should it become necessary."
The NHL seems to have a fluid plan in place and will adapt if teams cannot play in their home arenas. There will be more details in the coming weeks regarding the 2021 season.
Even though there are still some questions left to be answered about how the upcoming season will run, it is great news that there is a preliminary plan in place and the regular season will kick off on January 13th.
Winnipeg Jets Fans: Will the Winnipeg Jets make the playoffs? Leave your comments below!