Hockey In August? Yes, Please

My birthday is this coming Tuesday, but that is second on the list of days that I'm looking forward to the most in the month of August.

The NHL returns to action tomorrow August 1. I would have to say that hockey and football are tied for my two favorite sports. When the coronavirus caused a halt to this year's NHL season, I was wondering if we would ever see the completion of this year's schedule. The AHL's season was also put on hold, and then eventually canceled due to the pandemic. As well as the Binghamton Devils were playing back in February and March, I think they had a legitimate shot at the Calder Cup this season.

As for the NHL, I am a huge Philadelphia Flyers fan, but I'm also just a fan of the NHL in general. I will watch any game that's on as long as it is a close game. Just like the Binghamton Devils, my Flyers were playing great hockey when the season came to a standstill. I'm hoping they can pick up where they left off. Their first game is Sunday, August 2nd.

With the coronavirus still wreaking havoc across the globe, I think the NHL and NBA are restarting their seasons the right way, by keeping the teams and their staff quarantined in one spot. If you look at the numbers of players that have contracted the coronavirus in Major League Baseball, over a dozen on the Marlins alone, they might have been better off going with one of their original plans and playing the entire season in one city.

When Major League Baseball first delayed their season this year, one of the ideas was to have every team play all of their games in Phoenix, Arizona (if I remember correctly).

So far, knock on wood, the NHL has done a great job at protecting their players from COVID-19. Over the last two weeks, none of the NHL's players have contracted the coronavirus. I hope they can keep that going for the next few weeks and award Lord Stanley's Cup before the summer ends. And hopefully the team that wins it will be my Philadelphia Flyers.

As for the Binghamton Devils, The AHL announced yesterday that the 2020-2021 season will not start in October as it usually does. The AHL has postponed next season until December 4.