The end is at hand!
The NHL season is long and drawn out, and will end no later than June 24. If the final series gets that far, that would be the date for Game 7 between the Oilers and Panthers in Sunrise, Florida.
But while two teams are still competing, the other 30 teams have already started preparing for next season. June is probably the busiest month of the hockey season, with only a few games.
Every year, the draft combine is held in Buffalo to select the 100 most likely players to be drafted. In addition to watching these 18-year-olds go through some fitness training, teams also spend time interviewing many of the players, using this time to get to know these young men and what makes them tick – not just about hockey, but about life.
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When talking to some teams, these interviews have changed some people’s thought process about drafting a certain player — or more importantly, not drafting that player.
Yeah, most teams now have a team sports psychologist who asks a few different questions. You know, “If you were a tree, what would you be?”
Before the joint training camp began, teams had met with professional and amateur scouting teams to discuss how to deal with the draft in Las Vegas at the end of the month or the opening of the free agent market on July 1.
Every team in the league, including the Oilers and Panthers, will know this month that the roster they have today will be very different than it is now when training camp begins in September. With limited cap space, pending free agent signings and player retirements, teams already have a good idea of where they are and what they need to do to be competitive next season.
Even though all but two teams aren't competing on the ice, this month may be the biggest “game within a game” as each team prepares for a long 82-game season, with the playoffs the ultimate destination for every team.
So in reality, the season on the ice is coming to an end, but hockey never ends.
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