In North American sports is back to normal again. So not all of it, according to the Corona-break it continues with shortened seasons, and without spectators, some leagues put their team in the “Bubbles” (bubbles), in fenced areas, where the and played is trained, slept and ate. But the hierarchy is the same as before the crisis: headlines, NFL (Football), MLB (Baseball) and NBA (Basketball) provide, where Teams rename, or due to Corona-infections need to expose. Or where a player leaves the bubble, officially due to a funeral and then at a strip club ends up.

The most exciting event from the ice hockey one was water damage in the hall in Edmonton, but is long since fixed. Also, the recent Corona-testing of the approximately 800 NHL players were negative, the restart this Saturday, nothing stands in the way. Good news, but in the struggle for attention to the NHL again, as the narrow-minded uncle, the grandma’s birthday, no one wants to talk about. Only right after Donald Trumps son, Eric praised the NHL now to ensure that your Teams stand for the anthem.

As a sign against racism is not leagues in the whitest of all sports, namely, like its competitors, kneeling, or #BlackLivesMatter. on the field painted, the Teams by mixing only as a “stand against hate”. This is, of course, cheap. Hatred and violence have always been selling points of the NHL. Brawls have become as rare as bloodstained jerseys and tooth gaps, intense but it’s still just in the Play-offs. But now the fear of the traditionalists, the forthcoming might be a little too nice. It’s just the Fans don’t lack, by living in the Bubble, the aggression between the Teams is likely to go back.

The 24-year-old Leon Draisaitl, the would meet. His hands, the Cologne is so good as never to Beat, he’s preparing goals, or shoots you. With 110 points (43 goals, 67 templates), he was the first German Topscorer in the strongest hockey League in the world. He had a dream “as a child,” he said recently. Defensive is still room for improvement, but the centre-forward of the Edmonton Oilers has established itself in the Elite. Also because he was emancipated by the genius of teammate Connor McDavid. This has earned him nominations for the most valuable (from the journalists), and the outstanding players (the select hockey colleagues) of the season.

Individual prices would be nice, to him it is but for the championship, says Draisaitl is currently always. The wait for the Oilers for 30 years. And now much would have to fit, so it’s enough for a Team without big Stars in defence. In addition, there are deeper-studded competitors, Tampa, Boston, St. Louis, Vegas. Prior commitments anyway, the NHL is offset by measures such as the strict salary cap like no other in the League with five different Champions in six years. And by the long break, the players are fit, the injured, but not everyone saw the last regularly ice and was able to train in a professional manner, and not at all the dozens and dozens of players with the Virus infected. Even Draisaitl, who has remained healthy and in Canada, played only “my dog”, he told. So who is in Form and the necessary competition has hardness? Unclear.

at Least the Play-offs should the Oilers but it needs a victory in the extra introduced qualification round. The was necessary because, due to the early termination of the main round of 24 instead of 16 Teams in the knockout Phase can start. You had to let anyone who still had a theoretical chance of a Play-off place, play, the NHL announced. The tradition of teams from Montreal, Chicago and New York, and with them millions of Fans and the agitated media, are, was probably just a happy coincidence in economically difficult times.

it is Played in Canada, the Eastern group in Toronto, the West group in Edmonton. The infection numbers are significantly lower than in the United States. Nevertheless, there are daily Tests, and strict hygiene rules. The Teams live together, by hundreds of people sealed off in an Area with Hotels, ice rinks and gyms. And because it lasts for months, there are also Bars, Restaurants, cinemas and sports facilities, Hotels, Lounge areas with games consoles. Rod Brind’amour, coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, will be happy nonetheless, especially on the ice rink, “the only place where it feels normal.”