But there’s one reasonable option left before the ice is melted: Ditch the rest of the regular season.Assemblyman Phil Ting said there is support for providing up to $600 weekly to jobless CaliforniansSpeaking on Monday to CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Bettman acknowledged players would need two or three weeks of training camp before competition resumes. (1:50)"From the economy standpoint, it's a different situation," Bobrovsky said, "but from a sports standpoint, I don't think it's fair. She recently crossed covering Wimbledon off her bucket list.Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.The decision wasn’t a surprise, and it wasn’t definitive. Staging games in NHL cities in empty arenas, a step the NHL was prepared to take before it learned the NBA had shut down because of Utah Jazz player Rudy Gobert’s positive COVID-19 test, remains a possibility, but that would be a hollow replacement for the real thing.Maybe that time already has arrived. We want to be ready to go as soon as we get a green light -- and the green light may not be crystal clear because there may still be some places in the [U.S. and Canada] where we can't play and other places where you can," Bettman said. "The Panthers have played 69 games this season. You just can't cut off where we are and move right into the playoffs," Bobrovsky said on a conference call. So, we haven’t ruled anything in, we haven’t ruled anything out and we’ll be prepared to go in whatever direction makes sense at the time.”More From the Los Angeles TimesJoe Kelly released the months of pent-up rage the Dodgers and their fans have been feeling ever since MLB found the Houston Astros cheated in 2017.Eddie Shack, one of the NHL’s most colorful players on and off the ice and former King, has died at 83.The Chargers probably will start the season with veteran Tyrod Taylor at quarterback, but rookie Justin Herbert must be ready to play despite no preseason and less camp.Edwin Ríos’ home run in the 13th inning lifted the Dodgers to a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday.Bettman acknowledged speculation the NHL has considered neutral sites such as Grand Forks, N.D., home of the small but impressive Ralph Engelstad Arena. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said on Tuesday that completing the 2019-20 NHL regular season "may not be possible," but one prominent player believes that would be unfair. Tim Stuetzle is the top international skater.“Until there’s a sense that people can get together, not just to fill our arenas but even our players to get together to work out, we don’t know when we can come back,” Bettman told CNN. The NHL regular season is officially over and the league will move towards a revamped 24-team playoff format.. There are still too many unknowns to set firm target dates for even a gradual return to something resembling normalcy.The NHL reported that two players tested positive for COVID-19 during the first five days of training camp out of 2,618 tests administered to over 800 players.With the Kings out of the postseason race, Doughty is focused on the bigger picture when it comes to finishing the NHL season amid the coronavirus.The latest extension of the league’s stay-at-home recommendation, announced Tuesday, was the third delay. The self-quarantine had been in place through April 15.”President Trump said Tuesday that he had appointed the commissioners of the major sports leagues as well as Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft to a committee that will guide the reopening of the country. Cancel those games so teams that were eliminated don’t have to go through a farce of a training camp to play a dozen games just so Commissioner Gary Bettman can say the season was complete.Grand Forks is unrealistic as a site for 16 teams in first-round play. It couldn’t be.
Many of them are pretty entertaining.MLB’s punishment on Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly was excessive given the shorten season that might not finish due to the COVID-19 pandemic.In the case of the NHL, which stands to miss out on about $1 billion in revenues if it can’t resume, teams were asked to provide potential home dates into August. Eliminate bye weeks and gaps in the schedule and a “normal” cycle could resume.Major League Baseball asked a California court to throw out a lawsuit that claimed fans could not get refunds to games called off because of the coronavirus crisis. "Bettman confirmed that the NHL is looking into playing games into the summer and downplayed the idea that maintaining NHL-caliber ice was an issue, because of the league's modern and air-conditioned facilities.Bettman said the NHL faces issues of fairness regarding "who gets in if we can't complete the regular season" before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin.
There are Canadian guidelines to consider too, plus potential immigration issues for players who went overseas to wait this out.And so we wait, at least until April 30 and probably beyond. The NHL has prolonged its stay-at-home recommendation to the point where it would be wise to cancel the remainder of the regular season.