This week the Senators announced four additional members tested positive for coronavirus—bringing the league’s publicly known total to seven players—while stay-at-home orders become the norm and the league’s pause persists amid continued public health concerns. The NHL, at large, has pinned its hopes on a potential summer return date, but there’s a creeping possibility no one wants to face: What if hockey doesn’t return this season? For the second time in the last 106 years, no one would hoist the Stanley Cup. Drama and record chases, dashed. Here are some potential on-ice storylines we’ll miss out on if the season is completely lost:
The Battle of Alberta and McDavid’s Grand Stage, Delayed
All 6’2”, 202 pounds of Matthew Tkachuk, bound together with agitative fibers, and a pair of questionable hits was all that was needed to instill hatred and reinvigorate one of hockey’s most storied rivalries.