NHLPA chief Don Fehr told the AP that he expects that the teams will be cleared to open their training facilities to allow player workouts as soon as next week but there is no definitive timeline.

He said that the possibility will be included in a joint memo to the NHL and union plan to be released on Friday. It will give players guidelines on what to expect after the NHL followed the NBA’s option to suspend the 2019-20 season on Thursday in midst of the coronavirus outbreak.

Following “self quarantine” period, the NHL is hopeful to be in a position to transition – first to re-open team facilities for players to work on conditioning, then a “training camp period” where practices are scheduled and game preparation can resume.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 13, 2020

Meanwhile, Fehr said that players have been asked to stay at home to avoid the risk of catching the virus.

Since all of the players will be home over this weekend, all of the teams’ facilities would be able to get cleaned.

“I think we’re in the ‘Let’s relax and take stock of where we are first,”’ Fehr said on the phone from the NHLPA offices in Toronto. “I think the initial phase is a few days, whether it turns out to be two or three or five or six, we’re not going to know yet. And we’ll be constantly in touch with the NHL and constantly re-evaluating.”

MedStar Capitals Iceplex, the Washington Capitals‘ practice facility in Arlington, Virginia, announced on Friday that it is suspending all events through Friday, March 27 and that it will be working on rescheduling them.

By Harrison Brown