Photo: TSN
After NHL players were advised to stay in their team’s cities for the first four days of the league’s pause due to the coronavirus, the NHL is now allowing players to go home as long as they self-quarantine there through March 27, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston.
This is part of a new set of directives issued Monday morning.
Update from the NHL regarding player activity and movement during season pause: pic.twitter.com/yeFjII7W49
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 16, 2020
The players can self-quarantine in any country as long as they stay put there through the end of March. This is part of a plan that the NHL ideally returns next month with a mini training camp and the Stanley Cup being awarded at the end of July. The cutoff date for the season is likely near July 24, when the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan are slated to begin.
This is a signficant change from NHL’s previous to return-to-play plan. As part of this new directive, it sounds like the league hopes to re-open camps in late April.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 16, 2020
On Sunday night, the Centers for Disease Control recommended that no gatherings of at least 50 people be held for eight weeks, pushing back the original timeline on when the NHL hoped to resume its paused season. If that’s the case, the NHL wouldn’t likely resume until around May 10.
By Harrison Brown
