Make yourself comfortable. It’s going to be a while.
That’s the message the National Hockey League delivered to players on Monday, allowing them to return home to their permanent residence, including those who live in Europe.
That announcement dashed any lingering hope of a quick resumption to the season, with confirmed COVID-19 cases increasing by 33 per cent worldwide over the last four days.
It also marks a significant loosening on the NHL’s initial plan when the season was paused last Thursday, which instructed players to stay in their NHL city to self-quarantine.
Monday’s memo was in response to a directive from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control on Sunday that recommended the cancelation of any gathering of more than 50 people over the next eight weeks.
The NHL said its objective would be to provide “high-level guidance on the potential of opening a training camp roughly 45 days into the 60-day period covered by the CDC’s directive.”
That means the earliest the NHL could hope to open training camps would be the last week of April if May 11 is the first possible day that play could resume.
Even that timeline seems optimistic at the moment.
Additional restrictions for day-to-day living are being put into place every day. Individual provinces and states continue to enact sweeping closures and curfews, including schools, restaurants, bars, entertainment venues and non-essential retail in an attempt to flatten the curve of the spread of the coronavirus.
The NHL made Monday’s recommendation, in conjunction with the NHL Players’ Association, to allow players the flexibility to return home before any additional travel bans are put in place.
More than 300 players active in the NHL this season – more than a third of the league – hail from Europe. Even though the spread of COVID-19 has been more far reaching in Europe, players told TSN on Monday that they feel safer in their small communities there, surrounded by friends and family, instead of in their NHL cities in North America that are on the verge of shutdown.
The NHL has instructed that players should continue with an in-home, “self-quarantine” period through March 27 – unless “a longer period may be required in accordance with local mandates related to travel.”
“At the end of the self-quarantine period, and depending on world developments between now and then,” the NHL wrote, “consideration will be given to allowing the opening of club facilities to players in scheduled and coordinated small groups for voluntary training and care.”
While a mid-May target seems optimistic, history suggests even a late May return would allow the NHL enough runway to complete the season and award the Stanley Cup.
The NHL has already asked clubs for building availability dates through the end of July. In 1994-95, the playoffs did not begin until May 6 in the lockout-shortened season and the Stanley Cup was awarded on June 24.
The NHL continues to internally examine more than a dozen different playoff formats and start dates, but remains focused on the here and now, trying to get a better grasp on a realistic timeline before heading down that road.
Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli
