Once upon a time, when NHL training camps started, players would show up relaxed and tanned, fresh off a summer of beer-league softball and rounds of golf. Many of them worked summer jobs too, driving trucks or taking shifts in local factories. One thing they weren't doing was spending hours in the gym every day.
There's a particularly striking contrast in the CBC TV docuseries about the '72 Canada-Russia tournament. It shows video of the Russian players preparing for the games by running fields carrying teammates on their backs and performing intense group calisthenics. In contrast, the video of the Canadian players' prep mostly consists of a sequence of Tony and Phil Esposito playing croquet in their backyard while smoking big stogies.
Now players consider two weeks off from training after the season ends a luxury. They work out with trainers, physiotherapists and nutritionists all summer. When they arrive at camp, they compete to see who can jump the highest, lift the most and break the exercise bike. These guys are in shape.
So one of the main reasons...easing players back into game form...for preseason games isn't really applicable anymore. (Phil Kessel notwithstanding.) The other reasons, like trying out new line combinations, integrating new players and working on systems can certainly be done in-house and in scrimmages.
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In short, there's really not a good reason for teams to risk injuries in preseason that can cripple them when the real season starts. We have only to see David Reinbacher and Patrik Laine out for months when it matters, because they had to play meaningless preseason games.
While there's not a good reason for those matches, there are lots of reasons why they're problematic. Aside from opening players up to unnecessary injuries, the hockey in those games is often unwatchable. Teams fill their lineups with scrub prospects that likely won't make the big time, but they take their five minutes of fame to throw stupid hits instead of playing the actual sport. And, faced with an 82-game season plus playoffs, the real players don't need the extra demands on their bodies.
Prior to NHL expansion in 1967, the league hosted the occasional charity or tribute match, but a whole preseason wasn't a thing. Now that these pointless games are normalized, owners are making money and they don't want to give that up.
There's some talk at the NHL Board of Governors meetings this week about cutting down the number of preseason games and adding an extra two to the regular season schedule instead. The problem with that is the regular season is already too long. The only reason to extend from 82 games to 84 is to keep that cash flowing.
And at some point, the league is going to have to acknowledge that the only people who really benefit from those pointless games are the ones who cash the cheques. They're certainly not in the best interests of the players or the fans.
It's time to send the preseason back to 1966, where it belongs.
