Matt Duchene not keen on concept of COVID Cup

Matt Duchene of the Nashville Predators believes the integrity of the NHL's playoffs should not be compromised for the sake of awarding the Stanley Cup. The latest rumuors have the league resuming sometime in June or July with a 24-team playoffs format, something that doesn't sit well with the 29-year-old centre.

"You don't want to have a ‘COVID Cup,' and I'm worried that if we come back and try and force this thing and it's a little gimmicky and it's not quite right, whoever wins the Cup is going to have people try and take it away from them their whole lives," Duchene told the Nashville Post. "And they don't deserve that … Our game is one of the games that has the most integrity in the world and I know our guys are going to want this to mean something if we do come back.”

“I think the integrity of our game has to be maintained,” Duchene continued. “I think with what the Stanley Cup means, what the guys' names on the Cup went through — 82 games and then 20-plus games to win the Stanley Cup — that's sacrifice that going into another team's barn and stealing a game in front of their fans in a hostile environment, all those things, that has to be maintained as best as possible.”

Most scenarios have the playoffs to finish the 2019-20 season likely taking place in "hub cities" and almost certainly in arenas without fans.

“I doubt we're going to be able to (keep a traditional playoff format) 100 percent if we are able to come back, but I would like to see as traditional a format as possible,” Duchene added. “Obviously, there's no fair way to say who should be in and who should be out because of not playing the full 82, but somebody is, for lack of a better word, going to get screwed."

“I say, let's keep it as traditional as possible. I'd love to see us jump to a 16-team playoff, and maybe you're going to be playing more frequently because guys are going to be more fresh.”

Source: Nashville Post

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