Fittingly, the Boston Bruins are poised to win the President’s Trophy for only the third time in history, and the season is suspended. It stinks for all the players, fans, media, hockey-related employes all around the world. On the other side, it is much-needed prevention in order to stop the spreading of the novel coronavirus.
The suspension doesn’t mean anything in particular for the teams like the Detroit Red Wings or the Ottawa Senators. However, it’s much different for the Bruins. They are experiencing one fascinating season as they are eight points clear as the NHL’s leading team.
Now, the NHL season has an uncertain future.
What does it mean for the Bruins? Would the Bruins win the Stanley Cup automatically if the season is canceled for good? Well, that is a highly unlikely scenario. We have seen some precedents, though. For example, in the Slovak league, the team leading the competition in the late stages of the regular season was named a crowned champion. In the near Czech league, the competition was canceled with no champion.
As it stands now, the Bruins have to sit and wait. The NHL is believed to remain halted for at least the next three weeks. If that’s the case, and the campaign resumes afterward, we might see the playoffs begin after what is essentially a shortened season. The Bruins would face the second wild card team, the Columbus Blue Jackets.
NHL teams were reportedly asked to provide arena availability until late July. We have already seen the Bruins playing one Stanley Cup Final shortly before the month of July started in 2013. There are many scenarios and nothing can be dismissed nowadays.
For all the players involved, it is a highly challenging time. After the Utah Jazz players tested positive and played in many NHL-used arenas, the fear grew. The players have to wait and see with no practices scheduled.
Even if the league resumes in three weeks, in what conditions will the players be? With the first games in the playoffs going to look like the first games of the preseason,that’s not an encouraging outlook, to say the least.
For the members of hockey media, weird times have arrived. Nobody can pretend that this stage of the year is an offseason and nobody precisely knows when the season resumes.
It might be over.
It might not.
Nobody knows.
If everybody takes care and precautions, the Boston Bruins might still return and win the Stanley Cup. At least the injured defensemen, Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo, received some good news. Otherwise, it’s not positive.
