This was originally posted by me in the Canuck Young Guns thread on Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:35 pm
Because of 'rona, the Championship is played a wee bit later this year than normal. The tournament is scheduled to take place between May 21st and June 6th (great idea to schedule the final on Sweden's National Day; what better way to celebrate than by raising a cup, eh? ).The Brown Wizard wrote: ↑Mon Jan 11, 2021 5:52 am
Apparently the season ends Feb 28 with the playoffs done by Apr 30 at the latest. Should he be selected to represent team russia at the world championship he will also be contractually obligated to go there as well before he would be able to join Van. I have my doubts he would be selected but seeing as he really embraced the leadership role in edmonton, i could see it still happening.
My question is, when does a world championship team set their rosters and how late can a player be added? Would VP need to linger around russia waiting for april 30 before he can sign or is he released from his contractual obligations once SKA is eliminated?
A team can enter a maximum of 22 skaters and 3 goalies.
At "the first directorate meeting of the championship", which I assume is a few days before puck drop, a minimum roster of 15 skaters and 2 goalies must have been entered. These players must be present at the location of the venue at the time of the meeting.
The remaining players up to the allowed maximum of 22 + 3 must be submitted for players' control two hours before any of the following championship games. Players can be added throughout the tournament until the roster is full.
So, if Russia reaches the final, they could technically add a player as late as June 6th, two hours before puck drop.
Not very likely though. Unless they're keeping a slot open for some specific player (Ovechkin, Vasilevskiy) in the NHL, they will probably have their roster set before the playoffs begin.
Then again, we still don't know for sure if the tournament will be held at all.
The tournament was meant to be split between Minsk, Belarus and Riga, Latvia, with Russia, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovakia, Belarus, Denmark and Great Britain playing their group play in Minsk and Canada, Finland, USA, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Italy and Kazakhstan starting the tournament in Riga.
As a result of the unrest in Belarus, following the contested election, Latvia has stated that while they are still interested in hosting the tournament, they do not want to do it with Belarus. Kind of logical. They have been very firm in denouncing the regime in Belarus, Europe's last dictatorship, and have granted asylum to several leading opposition members.
The Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark) have expressed that they support the notion of moving the championship, but have so far not threatened to withdraw.
The IIHF has held several meetings about how to resolve the matter. Belarus has offered to host the entire tournament, but as mentioned, several of the participating countries would prefer that it is played elsewhere. Russia has also offered to step in as hosts.
And then you have the whole corona situation.
How do you keep players safe? Should the teams be in a bubble?
How do you handle players added later in the tournament? Should there be a quarantine?
Belarus has hardly taken any measures against the virus, last time I checked they still allowed spectators at games....
We will see what happens.
The most likely outcome is that it will be played, but that it may be moved, and I also think it is likely that the generous "two hours before a game" timeline for adding players may be adjusted to allow for quarantine measures.
Or perhaps a rule that all players must have been inocculated against the virus a set number of days prior to the tournament. Who knows?