As we continue to work through the COVID-19 pandemic, we see greater numbers of groups and organizations finding ways to at least get back to something that resembles their normal schedules.
This is especially true for sport. In this year’s college football season, which ended Monday night when the state of Ohio took on Alabama in the national championship game, more than 80 percent of the scheduled games were played. NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula 1 were able to complete modified schedules and crown champions. The PGA and LPGA tours were able to resume the game. Major League Baseball was crowned world champion, the National Basketball Association put on a show with its final, and the National Hockey League presented the Stanley Cup.
The National Football League made it through their regular season with a few postponements but no cancellations.
And while college basketball has seen numerous postponements and cancellations, the NBA has been able to ditch the bubble that closed its 2019-20 season and is a few weeks into the 2020-21 season.
For ice hockey fans in the Tri-State Area, the wait for the NHL to return to the ice will end on Wednesday when the Penguins take on arch rivals Philadelphia in the opening game of the 2021 season at 5:30 p.m.
Like everything else, this year’s season will be different. The league has reduced its regular season schedule to 56 games.
Temporary lineups have been established for divisions – including a separate division for the Canadian teams – to combat travel restrictions that would keep teams from the US and Canada from crossing borders.
And while the teams play home games in their own arenas, the number of fans who can participate in games will be severely limited – if allowed at all.
The penguins face many questions at the start of the season. Those concerns became painfully apparent in August when they dropped three of the four games against Montreal, only to be knocked out of the NHL tournament in the Bubble after just a few days.
After a second game in Philadelphia on Friday at 7 p.m., the Penguins will open their home flight schedule on Sunday lunchtime when Washington visits the PPG Paints Arena. It will be the team’s first home game since March 8, when it dropped a 6-2 decision against Carolina a few days before the league game was interrupted due to the corona virus.
It’s been a long time since we could hear the familiar phrase “It’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh.” The wait is over and knowledge gives us a little more space to look optimistically into the future.
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