The concept of "normal" has felt like a folly for nearly a year now, the idea that every facet of life will go back to what it once was or how we remember it, like putting on dress pants and a collared shirt for work.
Take a moment and allow yourself to reflect on the sports world as we know it, or knew it, pre-pandemic, when fans packed stadiums, the Vikings played defense and Zoom was how fast we drove on I-394, not an interview tool for coaches and athletes.
Alas, much has changed. Not all of it for the worse, though. This time hasn't been all wasted. Some rule changes in sports in response to COVID-19 have improved the product, so much so that my preference would be to make them permanent, not temporary, when life, ahem, returns to normal.
Case in point: the NHL's "baseball-style" scheduling format this season. To reduce travel, the league is mimicking baseball's model in hosting what amounts to series — always back-to-back games against the same division opponent and occasionally four consecutive games.
Love this concept. Not for an entire 82-game season, but the NHL should find ways to incorporate that model to some degree whenever the league returns to a regular schedule.
This scheduling quirk creates a mini-playoff series vibe, which I find more interesting in a long season than a late January game against a random opponent.
Playing the same opponent consecutively lends itself to strategy adjustments, developing story lines and bad blood. The carryover effect adds extra emotion that might not necessarily be present under different circumstances.
If an opponent takes a cheap shot on Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild can seek retribution two days later and not have to wait possibly a month.
