Photo: USA Today
The NHL will likely extend its quarantine period for players and staff until Mid-May, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.
“Yeah, that’s the expectation that the National Hockey League will extend its quarantine period. It expires on April 30th, it’s likely that would be extended into mid-May,” he said. “Now, there is a call between the National Hockey League and the Players’ Association which is expected, at earliest, tomorrow to go over some of the questions and concerns. I know the return-to-play committee of all NHL players also expected to virtually meet this week. Players in Europe need to know in the very near future when are they coming back? How are they getting back? How is that travel process going to be managed? And is there going to be a 14-day self-isolation period required, when those players get back to North America. Now, at any point, what happens if a player, a member of the personnel staff of the National Hockey League or any involved in the restart process tests positive, what happens at that point? How will players see their families again when you get into Phase 3 and Phase 4 of the quarantine process? Is it reasonable to expect players to be separated from their families for up to three or three-and-a-half months. And finally perhaps the biggest of them all, is a cost analysis that will happen between the NHL and Players’ Association. And what I mean by that is, with no fans in the building, you’ve got the travel cost, you’ve got the divisional city location costs, hotels will be mammoth. All of that. And what about the extra precautions and medical measures. How much is all of that going to cost? And when you weigh everything, is it worthwhile? I suppose it will be, but there’s a lot of back-and-forth first that has to happen.”
Bob McKenzie added that we might know the status of the 2020 NHL Draft, which could occur before the season resumes, by next week. The draft could be done electronically like the NFL did last week.
The NHL season has been paused since March 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic with each team playing somewhere between 68-71 games already. There has been word that mini training camps could open on June 1 and the regular-season could resume sometime this summer in four neutral site locations depending on the status of the pandemic.
Players had the option of quarantining at home or in their NHL city. 14 players from the Washington Capitals are still in the area while nine decided to head home, GM Brian MacLellan said on March 30.
By Harrison Brown
