The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan took note of Patrik Nemeth’s comments regarding the shortening of travel during the condensed 2020-2021 season, which Nemeth believes should be adopted on a permanent basis:
“I like it. You can be in bed earlier and there’s less travel. It is easier on the body,” Nemeth said. “The second game (of the series) should be really good. It can be a small playoff series, or that’s what it feels like anyway.
“I can see us keeping it in the future. If you’re flying out to the West Coast, you can play your season series there instead of bouncing back and forth. So when you’re on the road, you’re on the road, and when you’re home, you’re home for a stretch.”
On the flip side, the intra-division format, though useful this season, is something that isn’t likely to stay in the future.
While seeing the same seven teams over and over on the schedule can accelerate rivalries and ill feelings toward opponents, it can also bring about boredom.
Nemeth, and players alike, like the idea of seeing every team.
“We should play against every team,” Nemeth said. “It is like four different leagues (currently) because that’s how we’re playing it. In the future, if we’re going to keep this type of schedule, we at least should play against the other divisions for sure.”
