Nearing their previous threshold of April 15, the NHL has decided to extend the self-quarantine period for players, coaches and all hockey-related staff through April 30. This is the third extension of a recommendation that was originally placed until March 27.
This recommendation is for league activities, but there are other states and cities that have recommended isolation for even longer. It is not clear how players or facilities in those areas would resume normal activity even after April 30 has passed.
There have been eight confirmed cases of COVID-19 among NHL players to this point, five from the Ottawa Senators and three from the Colorado Avalanche. All other players have been told to self-isolate and the league has shutdown all practices, facilities and even informal team workouts. The NHL Awards, Draft and Combine were all postponed indefinitely, leaving the league timeline completely uncertain.
Obviously at this point there is no word on when the league will be able to resume, if at all. The NHL has received offers from neutral cites around the continent as options to restart, though any plan of that nature would still take an immense amount of logistical planning before it is put in place. The league has maintained that they will do everything in their power to hold a full 82-game schedule for the 2020-21 season, though they are apparently willing to delay the start of the schedule in order to fit in the end of the 2019-20 campaign this summer.
good to keep it conservative. there’s no rush to make it longer.
Hockey atrophy is already starting – can’t be helped. Let’s hope some of the worst-case scenarios, such as multiple recurrences in the next 2 years DON’T happen. We here in the PHR community are starving for our product of choice, but citizen safety, planet-wide, is a MUST.
Hope they can get back on the ice as soon as permitted by the needs of public health bd safety.
At the rate some Governors are keeping their states and citizens in lockdown, it may be the year 2025 before you see a sporting event in those states. Pending free agents are no doubt taking note of this.
It might be time to throw the towel in on this season and forget it.
with the essentially services announcement by Florida, it might be amazing to see the NHL playoffs go through a state that has no playoff team.
sorry forgot about tb