Like everything else over the past year, the hockey world has been turned upside down by the coronavirus pandemic. The 2019-20 season was completed with teams playing in bubble locations in Toronto and Edmonton and the 2020 campaign will open without fans as part of a condensed 56-game season, among a slew of other changes.
With the previous season extending several months past the normal ending date, the league had little choice but to delay the start of 2021 and to find a way to make a shortened season work. The new plan is for the regular season to end on May 8, with the Stanley Cup awarded no later than July 9.
Of course, nothing is set in stone anymore and the NBA and NFL have had to deal with countless COVID-19 issues, so the NHL expects similar problems to arise with the pandemic experiencing another surge. The league knows it may have to adapt and games will very likely need to be rescheduled.
The NHL has already dealt with this, as the start of the season for the Dallas Stars had to be pushed back to January 19 after six players and two staffers tested positive for coronavirus. While the completion of last season in the bubble locations was virtually flawless, teams are playing in home arenas this season, increasing the chances of players becoming infected.
To combat this, teams will be allowed to carry taxi squads of four to six extra players who will practice and be prepared to step in when needed.
While there is less hockey to enjoy, there are some tweaks to the upcoming season that fans will enjoy.
The four divisions have been realigned and they include an all-Canada division of seven teams, made necessary by border restrictions. The other three divisions are mostly based on geography, but St Louis and Minnesota were shuffled into a division with the three California teams, Vegas, Arizona and Colorado.
The Chicago-Detroit rivalry gets renewed with the Red Wings moving into the Central Division, and Tampa Bay and Dallas – last season's Stanley Cup Final participants – are now together in the Central.
There should be no shortage of intensity this season with teams scheduled to play mostly back-to-back sets solely against teams in their own division. So, the Flyers and Penguins will meet eight times, as will the Islanders and Rangers and Kings and Ducks. The teams in the all-Canada division will face each other nine or 10 times.
The first two playoff rounds will be played within the division, meaning the bad blood that started in the regular season could grow even deeper. The division winners will then advance to the semifinals but seeding will be based on points rather than geography.
The new setup raises the possibility of a Stanley Cup Final between traditional East teams like the Capitals and Penguins or Canadian rivals Montreal and Toronto.
To recoup some of the money lost by having no fans or limited fans at the start of the season in some cities, the NHL is allowing teams to include a sponsor name on their helmets and each division will also include the name of a corporate sponsor.
The condensed season was preceded by an abbreviated training camp without exhibition games and there is concern that the start of the season will be marred by sloppy play. This could be especially true for the seven teams that have not played a game since March after they did not qualify for the expanded playoffs.
As in any offseason, several big-name players changed teams. It will be jarring to see 43-year-old Zdeno Chara in a Capitals uniform and Joe Thornton playing for the Maple Leafs after 14 seasons in San Jose. Henrik Lundqvist would have looked strange as a member of the Capitals following an 887-game run with the Rangers, but he decided not to play this season due to a heart condition.
Injuries will also keep some marquee players off the ice for a while. Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov – the 2018-19 scoring leader – will miss the entire regular season due to hip surgery and the Stars could be without top forward Tyler Sequin (hip) and goaltender Ben Bishop (knee) until at least March.
Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews is out indefinitely with an unknown illness and there is no word on whether the 12-time 20-goal scorer will play this season.
While this season is full of unknowns and will be like no other before it, the potential is there for it to be one of the most exciting in recent memory.
The Washington Wizards' clash against the Utah Jazz scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed amid coronavirus concerns.
The Wizards announced on Tuesday they had Rui Hachimura and Moe Wagner enter the NBA's health and safety protocols and had cancelled their scheduled practice.
Washington (3-8) were due to face the Jazz on Wednesday, but that game will not go ahead in the latest postponement in the NBA due to COVID-19.
"The National Basketball Association game scheduled for tomorrow between the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena has been postponed in accordance with the league's health and safety protocols," an NBA statement read.
"Because of ongoing contact tracing with the Wizards, the team does not have the league-required eight available players to proceed with tomorrow's game against the Jazz."
The Boston Celtics have had three straight games postponed, while the Houston Rockets also had a clash pushed back earlier in the season.
The Philadelphia 76ers, meanwhile, played against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday despite having just eight active players.
Stefano Pioli was glad to see Zlatan Ibrahimovic get another 45 minutes under his belt in Milan's penalty shoot-out win over Torino.
Ibrahimovic, 39, made his return from injury off the bench against the same opponent in Serie A on Saturday, but started and played 45 minutes three days later as Milan reached the Coppa Italia quarter-finals with a 5-4 penalty shoot-out victory.
Milan head coach Pioli was happy to see the forward, who has scored 10 goals in seven Serie A matches this season, get more game time after being out for seven weeks.
"We wanted to give him a longer time compared to the previous championship game. We preferred to let him play from the beginning due to his characteristics," he said, via Sky Sport.
"This time will be used to improve his condition in view of the next championship match."
The clash at San Siro finished 0-0 before Hakan Calhanoglu scored the decisive penalty in the shoot-out after Ciprian Tatarusanu had denied Tomas Rincon.
It meant Milan reached the Coppa Italia quarter-finals for the 12th consecutive season.
"I am lucky to have a team that knows how to fight, knows how to play, knows how to grit its teeth in a difficult match even for the qualities of our opponents," Pioli said.
"For the many occasions we had, we could have avoided even reaching penalties, but we went beyond physical and mental fatigue and this is a desired qualification."
Milan, who are three points clear atop the Serie A table, visit Cagliari on Monday.
Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving will remain absent and there is no timeline for a return as the team and NBA review videos circulating on social media.
Irving will sit out his fourth consecutive game on Tuesday due to personal reasons amid the emergence of videos that appeared to show the six-time All-Star without a mask at a family birthday party.
The NBA's coronavirus protocols ban players from entering clubs, bars and lounges, while they are also forbidden from attending social gatherings of more than 15 people.
Nets general manager Sean Marks addressed the situation in a statement on Tuesday, prior to Brooklyn's matchup against the Denver Nuggets.
"We are aware of a video on social media featuring Kyrie Irving at a family gathering," Marks said.
"We are reviewing the circumstances with both Kyrie and the NBA in order to determine compliance with health and safety protocols.
"Kyrie remains away from the team due to personal reasons. A date of his return has yet to be finalised. In the meantime, we will continue to stay focused on our organisational goals.
"Kyrie will have the opportunity to address his absence when he is ready to do so."
Irving is averaging 27.1 points, 6.1 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Nets (5-6) this season.
Milan booked a place in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia with a penalty shoot-out victory over Torino at San Siro following a goalless draw after extra time.
The Serie A leaders eased to a 2-0 win when the sides met in the league on Saturday but found it a lot tougher to break down their opponents - 28 points worse off in the league - in Tuesday's cup tie.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic squandered the best early opening on his first start since November 22 and Milan then dominated the second half, twice hitting the post and having a penalty shout turned down.
Neither side could find a way through in the additional 30 minutes, but it was the hosts who prevailed on spot-kicks to set up a tie with Fiorentina or Inter - Hakan Calhanoglu scoring the decisive penalty after Ciprian Tatarusanu had denied Tomas Rincon.
Atletico Madrid extended their lead at LaLiga's summit to four points as they saw off Sevilla 2-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano on Tuesday.
Sevilla could have become the first team to draw three successive away games at the Wanda, but Atletico produced a vintage display of clinical finishing and resolute defending as they improved their position at the top of the table.
Atletico edged an even first half and went ahead through Angel Correa's clinical finish with just over quarter of an hour played, though Sevilla did trouble Jan Oblak through Ivan Rakitic and Youssef En-Nesyri.
The visitors dominated proceedings in the second period but struggled to find a way through Atletico's famously shrewd defence, who ultimately claimed an 11th clean sheet in LaLiga this term as Saul Niguez put the game beyond Sevilla in the latter stages.
Sevilla looked bright in the opening exchanges as Rakitic tested Oblak early on, but they found themselves trailing in the 17th minute – Correa picking out the bottom-right corner with a snapshot on the swivel that caught Yassine Bounou unsighted in goal.
Atletico were fortunate at the other end soon after.
Oblak initially rushed out to thwart En-Nesyri and the ball fell kindly to Marcos Acuna, but the left-back shot wide of the empty net with the hosts' goalkeeper stranded.
Luis Suarez then threatened before the half-hour mark, but his close-range volley was well blocked by Bounou.
En-Nesyri tried his luck from a tight angle early in the second half, but Oblak had little issue making the save.
But while Sevilla saw much of the ball, that En-Nesyri effort was hardly the start of an onslaught and Atletico picked them off 14 minutes from time.
Marcos Llorente found space behind Acuna and Oscar Rodriguez failed to intercept his cutback, which came to Saul and he swept in from 20 yards to seal the points.
The Boston Celtics have had another game postponed after their clash with the Orlando Magic on Wednesday was called off due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The NBA announced the game could not go ahead as planned, just as Sunday's clash with the Miami Heat and Tuesday's planned encounter with the Chicago Bulls could also not be played.
The Celtics would have been without nine players for the Heat game at the weekend, including seven absentees owing to COVID-19 protocols, but at the time they had the minimum eight players available.
It was a contact tracing matter within the Heat camp, after a player reportedly had an inconclusive coronavirus test, that triggered that postponement, but the Celtics' trip to face the Bulls was then also scratched.
On Tuesday, it was announced the Celtics no longer had sufficient players available to form a team.
The NBA said in a statement: "The National Basketball Association game scheduled for tomorrow between the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics at TD Garden has been postponed in accordance with the league's health and safety protocols.
"Because of testing and contact tracing within the Celtics, the team does not have the league-required eight available players to proceed with tomorrow’s game against Orlando."
Golf superstars including Tiger Woods and defending champion Dustin Johnson are set to play in front of "limited" crowds at the Masters, it was announced on Tuesday.
Last year's tournament was delayed from April to November because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there were no spectators allowed for that edition of the major at Augusta National.
That is set to change in 2021, says organisers, who are preparing to welcome a small number of Augusta's 'patrons' to watch the action unfold.
Full attendance was ruled out given the continuing need for social distancing, and those allowed entry must adhere to strict health protocols.
Augusta National club chairman Fred Ridley said: “Following the successful conduct of the Masters tournament last November with only essential personnel, we are confident in our ability to responsibly invite a limited number of patrons to Augusta National in April.
"As with the November Masters, we will implement practices and policies that will protect the health and safety of everyone in attendance.
"Nothing is, or will be, more important than the well-being of all involved. While we are disappointed that we will be unable to accommodate a full complement of patrons this year, we will continue our efforts to ensure that all who purchased tickets from Augusta National will have access in 2022, provided conditions improve."
The Masters is scheduled to take place at its Georgia home from April 8 to 11, with Johnson looking to follow up the stunning 20-under-par performance that saw him win a first green jacket.
That was a record score for a champion in the tournament's history and came a year after former world number one Woods landed his 15th major title when he triumphed at the Masters for a fifth time.
Lionel Messi has overcome a knock to be available for Barcelona's Supercopa de Espana semi-final against Real Sociedad as Ronald Koeman looks to take a step closer to his first trophy win as Barca coach.
Messi had, according to Koeman, some "discomfort" after Barca's resounding 4-0 win at Granada on Saturday, the Argentinian scoring twice as both he and the team appeared to be finding their feet again.
That was the Blaugrana's third LaLiga win in a row – all of which came away from home – and they are unbeaten in eight across all competitions since the 3-0 home defeat by Juventus on December 8.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Barca's improvement has coincided with Messi finding some joy in his game again – the club captain has scored seven times and set up another two in his past seven games, racking up more goal involvements than any other LaLiga player over the same period.
In his 10 previous league games this term, Messi had only contributed to four goals in total – none of which were assists – suggesting his mind was elsewhere following an attempt to leave the club.
But Messi and Barca are looking significantly improved as they head into the Supercopa, with their star man fit for Wednesday's semi-final.
"There are several players with discomfort, one of them is Messi, that is why we withdrew him in Granada," Koeman said on Tuesday. "It seems that everyone is available for tomorrow, also [Ronald] Araujo, although a preparatory session is missing. It is a match against a strong team and we can take the next step."
Koeman recognises Barca have looked more like their old selves in recent weeks, particularly in attack. Since December 9, the four players with the most chances created in LaLiga are Barca players.
"The team is better offensively, we have more players coming from the middle of the field," Koeman said. "We have players in attack who do damage, and defensively the team is working well. We have gained in confidence.
"Lately the team is focused on every game - we have improved in this regard. When we don't have the ball, the team is quite compact. We are improving our game.
"Midfield players give us a lot of threat, but at the beginning of the season we already played with Messi as a false nine. The difference is that the team is more confident and we find free men between the lines."
Wednesday's contest against La Real in Cordoba will be Koeman's first semi-final in charge, with the winners set to play Real Madrid or Athletic Bilbao in the final.
While the Dutchman sees it as a great opportunity for silverware, he does not think victory in this competition will instantly mean Barcelona are back to the levels expected of them.
"For us it is important, Barca is made to win. It is not the most important trophy, but we have to play the semi-final and we will give our best," he said.
"We will play with our best team to be in the final. We want to take the first step to reach it.
"I don't think that winning the trophy means being better. Soccer is fickle and things can change quickly.
"It [winning the trophy] would give us confidence, of course, but we have to go step by step, the first thing is to win the semi-final against Real Sociedad."
Neymar will make his return for Paris Saint-Germain when they take on rivals Marseille in the Trophee des Champions.
PSG will look to win the trophy for a remarkable eighth consecutive season as they line up against Marseille in Lens on Wednesday.
New head coach Mauricio Pochettino confirmed Neymar will play some part in the contest after missing the last five matches with an ankle injury.
"Neymar is available - he will be with the group," Pochettino said about the Brazil forward, who has been out for a month since the Ligue 1 defeat to Lyon.
"We will decide on Wednesday if he will start."
There have been concerns about burnout for Kylian Mbappe, who again played 90 minutes in the 3-0 Ligue 1 win over Brest on Saturday.
But Pochettino is optimistic about the World Cup winner's fitness ahead of a match with high stakes, where the coach feels pride is more important than the silverware on offer.
"Kylian is in perfect condition," Pochettino said when asked if Mbappe could start for a third time in eight days.
"We are evaluating the different options for our line-up on Wednesday. We will see which team is the best to win this match. We need to perform at the best level to get the win against Marseille.
"My main motivation is to win this game. We are playing against a great rival in OM. Pride is important, much more than titles. We will do everything to win this match.
"If we win, we know it will bring a trophy. But the most important thing is pride."
Asked about his own experiences of Le Classique as a PSG player, Pochettino added: "I remember these meetings perfectly.
"All the games were very special. For the players, the fans, the club, football is a sport of emotions.
"We realise with the health situation how much we miss the fans. The importance of this match, I had already felt it in my time."
Five players were sent off in stoppage time when these two sides met in Ligue 1 in September, following a brawl, but Pochettino sees that having no bearing on this week's game.
"The first match [against Marseille this season] is one I was not involved in. I can't talk much about it. I saw pictures. The situation is over," Pochettino said.
PSG will be without Colin Dagba, the latest player at the club to test positive for coronavirus.
Dagba has started both PSG games under Pochettino, but the defender will not play no part against Andre Villas-Boas' side as he is self-isolating.
Fellow defender Thilo Kehrer and Rafinha have also tested positive for the virus since PSG returned to training this month.
Hansi Flick says Bayern Munich must be wary of a Holstein Kiel side with "nothing to lose" when they meet in the second round of the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday.
Holders Bayern will travel to Holstein-Stadion smarting from squandering a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 against Borussia Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga last Friday.
Kiel are third in 2. Bundesliga and will be eyeing a shock when they take on the European champions for the first time.
Bayern head coach Flick, who is set to welcome the fit-again Serge Gnabry back into his squad, warned the Bavarian giants will be in for a battle against the second-tier side.
He said in a press conference on Tuesday: "Holstein Kiel have got nothing to lose.
"I follow them closely, I know Uwe Stover very well and I've known him for a long time, so naturally I follow their progress more closely.
"Their team has strengthened a lot - they have a clear plan and they like to attack."
Flick added: "We will be taking this task seriously. We are expected to win this game, but it's not always possible to meet these expectations."
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting misses out with a back injury, while Kingsley Coman will not be risked as Flick revealed the winger is "feeling some discomfort in his muscles."
Flick will not make a decision on who will make the trip to Kiel until the day of the game.
"We will train as normal on Wednesday ahead of the game, then we will decide who is to travel to Kiel with us," he said.
"There are a lot of games at the moment and we're spending a lot of time in hotels, which is why we're not traveling until matchday."
Colin Dagba is the latest Paris Saint-Germain player to test positive for coronavirus ahead of the Trophee des Champions clash with Marseille.
Dagba has started both PSG games under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino, but the defender will not play no part against Andre Villas-Boas' side at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens.
The Ligue 1 champions confirmed on Tuesday that Dagba had contracted COVID-19 and is self-isolating.
Fellow defender Thilo Kehrer and Rafinha have also tested positive for the virus since PSG returned to training this month.
Moise Kean, Mauro Icardi and Pablo Sarabia were on target as PSG secured a first win of the Pochettino era on Saturday, beating Brest 3-0 in Ligue 1.
Aryna Sabalenka will face Veronika Kudermetova in the Abu Dhabi Women's Tennis Open after extending her magnificent career-best winning run with a straight-sets victory over Maria Sakkari.
Sabalenka ended 2020 in red hot form and has carried on where she left off at Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre to stand on the brink of claiming a third successive title.
The fourth seed from Belarus has now won 14 consecutive matches following a commanding 6-3 6-2 success over Sakkari on Tuesday.
Sabalenka reached the 13th WTA singles final of her career at the age of only 22, taking just 57 minutes to see the back of ninth seed Sakkari.
The world number 10 struck 22 winners, eight of which were aces, and made only eight unforced errors, while winning 83 per cent of points on her first serve and will be one to watch at the Australian Open next month.
Kudermetova will be playing in her maiden WTA singles final following a 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 victory over Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
Russian Kudermetova came from a break down in the first set and was behind in the tie-break, but dug deep to edge in front in a battle between two unseeded semi-finalists.
The world number 46 broke Kostyuk three times in the second set to secure her spot in the championship match, in which she will have to improve on a first-serve percentage of just 46.5.
Doc Rivers said "nobody's going to feel sorry for us" after the depleted Philadelphia 76ers went down to the Atlanta Hawks on Monday.
The Sixers used nine players in the 112-94 defeat, two more than they had available in the 115-103 loss to the Denver Nuggets.
Ben Simmons (left knee) was again absent, while Tobias Harris, Shake Milton, Matisse Thybulle and Vincent Poirier were left out due to COVID-19 protocols. Seth Curry had also tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.
For head coach Rivers there are no excuses and he expects plenty of teams to struggle during an unusual NBA season.
"Nobody's going to feel sorry for us. We've got to try to win these games," Rivers said.
"We're in a tough spot with COVID - not a lot we can do with it. I have a sneaking feeling that there's going to be a lot of teams with this problem.
"Right now, we're getting hit with it, which is unfortunate for us. It's unfortunate it happened when we had four games in [six] days.
"It's like the timing of this couldn't have been any worse at all."
Simmons' absence for the Denver game led to the 76ers receiving a $25,000 fine for violating the NBA's injury reporting rules.
Rivers added of Simmons: "We thought it'd be one game and now it's two."
Joel Embiid had 24 points and 11 rebounds after recovering from back tightness.
He played 23 minutes and Rivers explained why Embiid did not spend more time on the court.
"You give yourself a shot, and then as a coach, you've got to assess," he added.
"Even at half-time for me, I saw what the score was and I didn't think there was much of a chance of us winning that game.
"My assessment was get everybody out as soon as I could, and you start thinking about the next game."
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