GatewayRedbirds.com

CNN is reporting a tentative deal has been struck!

Mebbe, zee 'ockey, eet eez back! N'est pas?

So what happens next? Do they just play a shortened season and have the playoffs start at the same time as usual?

I have no idea what they will do, but the NBA pushed back the end of the regular season a bit - about 10 days from this year. The other thing the NBA did that as a hockey fan you should hope the league does NOT do is pack the games in too much. I think in general there is a little more spacing in the hockey season - they start earlier than the NBA and end about the same time even though they play the same games. The NBA suffered with back to back to back games, and 5 games in 6 nights etc... Not only did the play suffer, but as a fan I like the breaks in the NBA. I can watch most of my teams games and still watch the Friday night marquis matchups. Last year forget it - it was like a baseball schedule.

With the NHL if they pack games in too much the game will really suffer.

jim wrote:I have no idea what they will do, but the NBA pushed back the end of the regular season a bit - about 10 days from this year. The other thing the NBA did that as a hockey fan you should hope the league does NOT do is pack the games in too much. I think in general there is a little more spacing in the hockey season - they start earlier than the NBA and end about the same time even though they play the same games. The NBA suffered with back to back to back games, and 5 games in 6 nights etc... Not only did the play suffer, but as a fan I like the breaks in the NBA. I can watch most of my teams games and still watch the Friday night marquis matchups. Last year forget it - it was like a baseball schedule.

With the NHL if they pack games in too much the game will really suffer.

I think the most we will see is 3 games in 4 nights. No way they schedule 3 in a row and 5 in 6 like they did in the NBA. Plus it seems that there will be no out of conference schedule so that should help cut down on coast to coast travel.

Sounds like they're going to a 48 game season and I wouldn't expect it to be condensed. Hockey games are spaced out because the guys get the [expletive] beat out of them and their bodies need to heal. I am not entirely sure why football needs a full week and hockey players only get a day or two, but if they try to pack extra games in, it'll just be a war of attrition.

Also:

Grantland wrote:•The NHL and NHLPA have reached a tentative agreement to end their lockout, and begin an abridged season. Both sides are said to have gotten what they wanted out of the lockout, with the owners having unnecessarily alienated their customer base, and the players having gotten a few months off from being hit in the face with hockey pucks.

Elliotte Friedman
‏@FriedgeHNIC 14h NHL sends memo to clubs indicating no camps before Saturday (and may not open until Monday), 48-game season to begin Jan. 19

Drop the puck.....(and Gloves)

Cool. Will Lord Stanley's Cup be played during the 2013-14 preseason?