Will somebody be able to hoist the Ed Chynoweth Cup this year, like Raiders forward Dante Hannoun did last year? (File photo/Jeff D'Andrea)

By Jeff D'Andrea

Playoffs amidst pandemic

Taking a hypothetical look at how weird the WHL playoffs could be if they return

Mar 20, 2020 | 5:08 PM

During this COVID-19 pandemic, nobody knows what’s going to happen in the future for a lot of things. Sports being one of them.

So I’m going to look into my non-reliable crystal ball and how things could shape up in the Western Hockey League moving forward with the playoffs and the Memorial Cup in Kelowna, B.C.

As a disclaimer, I’m not reporting that any of these things are happening or are going to happen. I’m just throwing wild hypotheticals at the wall and hoping one sticks. If nothing else, we can at least think about hockey again and the possibility of it returning.

But it seems pretty clear to me that if the playoffs and the Memorial Cup are going to happen, it won’t be able to continue in its normal format.

Last year, the Prince Albert Raiders managed to play on the first day of the 2019 WHL Playoffs on March 22, then won the Ed Chynoweth Cup on the league’s final playoff day, in Game 7 on May 13. That’s 8.5 weeks of play going from Round 1, Game 1 all the way to the Game 7 of the finals.

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With B.C. in the state of emergency like many other provinces like Saskatchewan, they have banned gatherings of more than 50 people. But unlike other provinces, B.C. put an initial expiry date on the order, May 30, in which case it could be cancelled or extended.

That date is very important when looking at the future of the season. The Memorial Cup is scheduled to start on May 22. So that’s not going to happen. TSN’s Bob McKenzie said Memorial Cup organizers have secured ice times in June as long as hockey can safely continue.

Here’s the problem. None of the three league’s playoffs have even begun yet. Since the Memorial Cup features the three championship-winning teams from the WHL, OHL and QMJHL, along with the hosting team, that means we could be in a situation when June 1 rolls around and we still haven’t even begun starting the process of which team will qualify.

Just firing up the normal playoff format then is not going to work. Assuming playoffs can begin in the first week of June, which looks to be the best-case scenario according to the B.C. government at this point, that will take the playoffs to the end of July. There’s no way that will work.

It’s going to have to be shortened somehow.

I say it’s time for a March Madness-like tournament. May Madness? June Jest?

Choose a venue for each league and hold a 16-team, single-elimination tournament. That’s a maximum of four games per team. That can easily be hammered out in a week or two. Bam, done. Now you have league winners.

Soccer-style home-and-away legs could be an option as well. Teams play one game each in both of their rinks, the aggregate score is taken. In the case of a tie after the conclusion of both games, keep playing overtime until somebody scores.

Are any of these ideal? Absolutely not. But neither is living through a viral pandemic.

If we want to hold the Memorial Cup this year or not have playoffs go until July 28, something has to give.

But at the end of the day, I don’t really care what format is used. I just want hockey back.

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Jeff.dandrea@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @jeff_paNOW