Will Detroit Red Wings finish this season? Why pandemic restrictions point toward no

The hockey world is on pause because of the coronavirus pandemic, leading to a great deal of questions — and little certainty regarding answers.

This Detroit Red Wings mailbag focuses on a question from a reader, Patty C., who emailed to ask: Will we see the Wings play again this season? 

It has been three weeks since the NHL postponed the 2019-20 season, and the message from both the league and the players' association naturally is still a desire to finish the season and complete the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. 

The COVID-19 crisis has rendered scenarios for doing so uncertain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised against gatherings of 50-plus people into mid-May, and President Donald Trump has extended social distancing guidelines through April 30.

The NHL has extended a self-quarantine order through April 15, meaning players can’t gather at their arena workout facilities, but players are first and foremost subject to their local government’s restrictions on mass gatherings and travel.

That means teams might face different guidelines.

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At this point, it’s highly unlikely the NHL will be able to pick up where the season was interrupted. Teams had anywhere from 11 to 14 games left when the league shut down on March 12.

Going straight to the postseason isn’t fair to the handful of teams within reach of the playoff picture. The Islanders, for example, were one point out of a wild-card spot; the Rangers, two points. In the Western Conference, the Canucks and the Wild are among teams within a point of making the playoffs.

Playing out the full schedule would take roughly three weeks. Playing a condensed version — say, half — could be done in 10 days. Maybe it’s reduced to a three-game schedule, which could be done in a week.

The Wings were eliminated from the playoffs Feb. 21 and are ensured a last-place finish. There’s little sense in the NHL forcing the Wings, along with teams including Ottawa, San Jose, Los Angeles and others to go through a training camp (which would be needed because players won’t have been able to skate for at least a month, likely more) to play for one week.

More:No NHL players think the Wings are interesting, worth watching

If the NHL is able to resume, it should go either straight to an expanded playoffs model — for example, having teams ranked 7-10 in each conference compete in a play-in game — or it should play no more than a one-week schedule limited to teams with the most realistic chance of making the playoffs.

Make the cutoff 78 points in the Eastern Conference (that would include three teams not currently inside the playoff picture: the Islanders, Rangers and Panthers). Make it 77 points in the Western Conference (giving Vancouver and Minnesota a shot).

The NHL is a business, and there are hundreds of millions of dollars at stake in finding a way to award the 2020 Stanley Cup. The Wings may lament the loss of revenue without the four home games they had left on their schedule, but given the situation, we’ve almost certainly seen the last of them this season. 

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.