A plan using home arenas would create an entire new set of issues for the NHL and NHLPA to confrontGETTY IMAGES
The NHL “seems to be pivoting from its plan to reopen the season in four centralized locations and is now focused on playing games in its teams’ home cities,” according to sources cited by Larry Brooks of the N.Y. POST. The league is dealing with myriad “hypotheticals, but it is believed that the players have pushed back on the prospect of spending months in a hotel apart from their families.” So, the league is “studying this alternative.” This would “create an entire new set of issues for the NHL and NHLPA to confront and solve, most notable of which would be travel considerations and the means with which to consistently test players.” Under a “best-case scenario, the NHL would open its training facilities for small group workouts on or around May 15 that would precede formal training camps of up to three weeks.” The regular season would then resume in late June or early July, leading into a traditional Stanley Cup playoff” (N.Y. POST, 5/1).
RETURN TO RINKS: TSN's Darren Dreger reported the NHL has a goal to "initiate Phase 2” of its return-to-play plan around the middle of May, but for teams, it is a "recommendation, it’s not mandatory.” What is mandatory, "assuming there is a go ahead, is that NHL players report to their NHL cities for the start of training camp." But there are "others who say that Phase 2 may not be initiated." There is "certainly no guarantee of that, and that’s all health related.” It also is “important to note there will be no agreement on NHL resumption unless players have an allowance to visit with their families." Dreger: "How does that happen? Could families come into a safe zone in an NHL city? Could an NHL player be released to go visit his family for five days, up to a week, and then test and then be reintroduced back to the NHL club? All of these things are in the discussion stage" (“Insider Trading,” TSN, 4/30).
BETTMAN TALKS: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said the league would "like to be able to get our training facilities open" and allow the players "to work themselves back into shape" before they potentially resume play this season. Bettman: "This is something we're going to continue to evaluate on a day-to-day basis. Our health concerns for the players really fit into two categories. One is obviously COVID-19 and two, whatever we're going to do, we don't want them playing games until they're back in game shape." Bettman in response to reports the league could play in hub locations and/or in non-traditional venues said the NHL is "considering all the possibilities." However, he added he thinks the "rumor, the speculation, far exceeds any decisions that have been made" and when the league "has something to say, we announce it." Bettman: "We're looking at all of our options. Looking at your options, doing due diligence is a far cry from saying any decisions have been made because no decisions have been made." Meanwhile, Bettman said there is "some occasional communication" between all the commissioners of the major North American sports leagues. Bettman: "But we're all focusing on our own sports and our own needs in our own way. What might work for one sport doesn't necessarily work for the other" ("NHL Tonight," NHL Network, 4/30).
TRENDING UP: In Toronto, Michael Traikos writes "cautiously optimistic" is how he would "describe the feeling around the NHL following Wednesday's memo that the league is planning Phase 2 of its transition period to completing the season." It was a "bit of good news," a "glimmer of hope where might not have been any a week ago." But Coyotes President of Hockey Operations & GM John Chayka said there is "nothing concrete" regarding a plan to resume the season. Chayka: "I'm not going to pretend I know what this means. There's harder questions that are still unanswered. It doesn't mean I'm not hopeful" (TORONTO SUN, 5/1).
