NHL, Players Release Statement On Returning To Ice; No Timelines But Maybe Small Player Groups Practicing Mid Or Late May

By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com

The NHL and the players association issued a statement Thursday, with the best case scenario being that players might be able to have ‘small group activities” at NHL team training centers in the mid or late part of May. But there is no timeline. And that’s a big, “might.”

Here’s the highlight:

“The precise date of transition to Phase 2, during which Players might return to small group activities in NHL Club training facilities, remains undetermined. However, provided that conditions continue to trend favorably – and, subject to potential competitive concerns as between disparately situated markets – we believe we may be able to move to Phase 2 at some point in the mid-to-later portion of May.”

Here’s the NHL/NHLPA statement.

 


A city of Henderson poll says residents back developing the pavilion venue off Green Valley Parkway into a year-round event center that would house a minor league hockey team for the Vegas Golden Knights. Discovery Nevada, an independent market research firm and a partnership of Applied Analysis and Discovery Research Group, did the poll during March and April via web and telephone with nearly 400 Henderson residents.  Survey results have a 95 percent confidence interval and indicate the following:

  • 71 percent of Henderson residents believe the project, as proposed, would be good for Henderson
  • 71 percent thought a minor league hockey team would be good for the City
  • 69 percent of respondents either “strongly support” or “somewhat support” the redevelopment of the Henderson Pavilion into an enclosed, 6,000-seat entertainment venue
  • 11 percent of respondents felt the venue would have a negative impact on their home values
  • At a rate of nearly two-to-one, (54 percent vs. 29 percent) respondents opted to spend approximately 30 percent more in a public-private partnership that would result in the development of an enclosed 6,000-seat entertainment venue as opposed to enclosing the existing venue as is
  • Approximately two-thirds (66 percent) of households indicated they or someone in their household would likely attend an event at least annually at the new proposed facility

The proposed Henderson Event Center, if approved, would become the home of community performing arts groups such as the Henderson Symphony Orchestra, as well as the game-day home of an American Hockey League team owned by an affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights.  High school and college graduations, other cultural and performing arts productions, meetings and other gatherings could also be held at the event year-round.

“The VGK organization would be making a significant matching investment commitment . . . we know there is considerable support for an AHL team in Henderson given that there are more than  7,000 season ticket deposits with approximately 40 percent of those from Henderson zip codes,” Henderson City Manager Richard Derrick said.


 

Well, now the coronavirus pandemic has really done it. It prompted the folks who run the Little League World Series to scrub the annual baseball tournament held in Pennsylvania in late August every year.

“This is a heartbreaking decision for everyone at Little League International, but more so for those millions of Little Leaguers who have dreamt of one day playing in one of our seven World Series events,” Little League President Stephen Keener said.

Little League tweet.

The Little League World Series might be out for 2020, but NASCAR is back.

 


When the city of Oakland sued the NFL Raiders for leaving Oakland, I didn’t think the city had much of a chance. And a judge agreed, dismissing the case. Here’s a post on the legal matter:


And finally, LVSportsBiz.com chatted with our old friend, Darren Rovell. Listen to our discussion here:

 


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Alan Snel

Alan Snel brings decades of sports-business reporting experience to LVSportsBiz.com. Snel covered the business side of sports for the South Florida (Fort Lauderdale) Sun-Sentinel, the Tampa Tribune and Las Vegas Review-Journal. As a city hall beat reporter, Snel also covered stadium deals in Denver and Seattle. In 2000, Snel launched a sport-business website for FoxSports.com called FoxSportsBiz.com. After reporting sports-business for the RJ, Snel wrote hard-hitting stories on the Raiders stadium for the Desert Companion magazine in Las Vegas and The Nevada Independent. Snel is also one of the top bicycle advocates in the country.