NHL will discuss holding 2021 playoffs in bubble

The NHL will discuss the possibility of returning to a bubble for the 2021 postseason, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on “Saturday Headlines.”

The league hosted the 2020 playoffs in separate bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton. Whether or not the same measures will be used depends on how the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, Friedman adds.

Over 33,000 tests were administered during last season’s 24-team playoffs, and zero positive results were returned. Teams entered their respective bubbles on July 26, and the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup on Sept. 28.

Nearly every team has had at least one player enter COVID-19 protocol since the 2020-21 season began Jan. 13. The Vancouver Canucks currently have 14 players on the COVID-19 list, and the Brazil variant of the coronavirus has reportedly infected some of those players.

The regular season is scheduled to end May 8, with the postseason beginning May 11, but those dates are subject to change if the league needs to reschedule games.

Seguin: Bubble life ‘hardest time of our lives as professional athletes’

Aside from bonding with his teammates, Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin admitted bubble life in Edmonton for the duration of the Stanley Cup Playoffs was a grind unlike he’s ever experienced.

“(It was) the biggest grind and the hardest time of our lives as professional athletes, and also the most fun,” Seguin told NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. “We had so much fun – that’s kind of why it’s so disappointing – on this run. It’s fun being on this stage. A lot of guys in this league or this business don’t have that opportunity to feel this pressure, and we had a lot of fun with it, so it was great.

“But other than that, there’s nothing positive you’re going to take from the bubble life. It definitely (stunk) and I think we’re all looking forward to seeing family and friends now.”

Players reported to their respective bubbles July 26, and the Stars’ run ended Monday night – over two full months later – as they lost the Stanley Cup Final in Game 6 to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Seguin finished the postseason with 13 points in 26 games. It was the third time in franchise history the Stars had reached the finals.

Garnett: My era ‘could never play in the bubble’

Kevin Garnett thinks things would’ve played out a lot differently if COVID-19 had been around when he was in the NBA.

On the latest episode of Complex’s “Load Management” podcast, Garnett spoke about the differences between his playing days and today’s game, and why the NBA bubble wouldn’t have worked during his era.

“To be honest y’all, we could never play in the bubble,” Garnett said. “You know how much I’ve been screaming during your shot ‘Get that shit out of here’? You could’ve heard me in here. Man they’d of had a bunch of censors. Couldn’t have all these cameras, you know, players walking around naked, balls swinging all type thing. That’s a different league. We were men, yo.

“We out here talking to each other,” he continued. “We trying to figure out the pick and roll. We ain’t switching, you know, it was just totally different. It (would have) been barbaric. We could have never been in a situation like this. It would’ve been chaotic … It would’ve been very difficult to put my timing and the guys that I played with and against into a bubble like this and have us not be like – we was high competitors. Everybody’s competing. Everybody’s damn near fighting every other play.”

Garnett was a prolific trash talker, so the NBA and television networks likely would’ve had a difficult time hiding his profanity during bubble games.

MLB will play postseason in bubble, World Series in Texas

Major League Baseball is following the lead of the National Basketball Association and National Hockey League and will play its postseason in a bubble amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to Tyler Kepner of the New York Times.

While the league is still working out details with the MLBPA, the World Series will be played at the Texas Rangers‘ new stadium, Globe Life Field, in Arlington.

The first round of the playoffs, which includes eight teams from each league, will take place at the top seed’s home ballpark, Kepner adds. However, teams move to neutral sites beyond the first round.

Earlier reports indicated two separate playoff bubbles – like the NHL – housing the two leagues, with the National League playing across two ballparks in southern California and the American League playing in Texas. That would mean the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, and San Diego Padres could be in the running to host Senior Circuit clubs, while the Junior Circuit would play at Globe Life Field and Minute Maid Park – the Houston Astros‘ home field.

This will be the first time in league history postseason games will be played at neutral sites and the first time since 1944 that a single stadium hosted every game of the Fall Classic. That year, the St. Louis Browns and St. Louis Cardinals made the World Series while they both called Sportsman’s Park home.

NBA considering up to 4 bubble environments for 2020-21

The NBA has discussed using as many as four bubble environments next season, with New York and the Dallas-Fort Worth area among the potential locations under consideration, sources told The Athletic’s David Aldridge and John Hollinger.

New York is the site of two NBA home courts: the Knicks‘ Madison Square Garden and the Nets‘ Barclays Center. Basketball City, a facility in Manhattan, also contains seven full-sized basketball courts.

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is home to the Dallas Mavericks and the WNBA’s Dallas Wings, who play their games at the American Airlines Center and College Park Center, respectively.

A return to Walt Disney World is “a given,” according to Aldridge and Hollinger, as is the creation of a Las Vegas bubble. Las Vegas was the runner-up site for the 2019-20 restart and has multiple venues suitable for basketball, including the Thomas & Mack Center, the MGM Grand, and Mandalay Bay.

No players have tested positive for COVID-19 through three weeks of testing within the league’s current bubble in Orlando.

National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts recently stated that the league may need to use a bubble environment for next season if the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t been adequately addressed.

A start date for the 2020-21 campaign has not been finalized.