NHL training camps are scheduled to open on July 10 at the designated home base (hub city) for each of the playoff teams, with playoffs anticipated to start sometime in August. One potential concern is that coaches could be very vulnerable to COVID-19 due to their age.
At the present time, the Center of Disease Control (CDC) considers persons over 65, especially with underlying conditions, to be more vulnerable to severe consequences if they contract the disease.
In examining the data on NHL head coaches, as of this writing, there is just one head coach who is 65 and that is Rick Bowness of the Dallas Stars.
- There are four other coaches between the ages of 60-65;
- 15 coaches between the ages of 50-59;
- nine coaches between the ages of 40-49 and
- just two under the age of 40.
The average age is 52.3 years with a standard deviation of 6.8 years, the median age is 53, and the mode is 52.
| TEAM | NAME | DOB | Age |
| Dallas Stars | Rick Bowness | 1/25/1955 | 65 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | John Tortorella | 6/24/1958 | 61 |
| Florida Panthers | Joel Quenneville | 9/15/1958 | 61 |
| Buffalo Sabres | Ralph Krueger | 8/31/1959 | 60 |
| Montreal Canadiens | Claude Julien | 4/23/1960 | 60 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Alain Vigneault | 5/14/1961 | 59 |
| Calgary Flames | Geoff Ward | 4/8/1962 | 58 |
| Edmonton Oilers | Dave Tippett | 8/25/1961 | 58 |
| New York Islanders | Barry Trotz | 7/15/1962 | 57 |
| Arizona Coyotes | Rick Tocchet | 4/9/1964 | 56 |
| Boston Bruins | Bruce Cassidy | 5/20/1965 | 55 |
| Minnesota Wild | Dean Evason | 8/22/1964 | 55 |
| St. Louis Blues | Craig Berube | 12/17/1965 | 54 |
| Anaheim Ducks | Dallas Eakins | 2/27/1967 | 53 |
| New York Rangers | David Quinn | 7/30/1966 | 53 |
| Winnipeg Jets | Paul Maurice | 1/30/1967 | 53 |
| Los Angeles Kings | Todd McLellan | 10/3/1967 | 52 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Mike Sullivan | 2/27/1968 | 52 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Jon Cooper | 8/23/1967 | 52 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | Peter DeBoer | 6/13/1968 | 52 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | Rod Brind’Amour | 8/9/1970 | 49 |
| San Jose Sharks | Bob Boughner | 3/8/1971 | 49 |
| Vancouver Canucks | Travis Green | 12/20/1970 | 49 |
| Colorado Avalanche | Jared Bednar | 2/28/1972 | 48 |
| Washington Capitals | Todd Reirden | 6/25/1971 | 48 |
| Detroit Red Wings | Jeff Blashill | 12/10/1973 | 46 |
| Nashville Predators | John Hynes | 2/10/1975 | 45 |
| New Jersey Devils | Alain Nasreddine | 7/10/1975 | 44 |
| Ottawa Senators | D.J. Smith | 5/13/1977 | 43 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Sheldon Keefe | 9/17/1980 | 39 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | Jeremy Colliton | 1/13/1985 | 35 |
| Average | 52.3 | ||
| Median | 53 | ||
| Mode | 52 | ||
| Stan Dev | 6.8 |
There are slight changes of coaches of teams in the playoffs in that there would be
- four coaches between the ages of 60-65;
- 15 coaches between the ages of 50-59;
- five coaches between the ages of 40-49, and
- two under the age of 40.
The average age is 53.0 years with a standard deviation of 6.7 years, the median age is 53, and the mode is 52.
| TEAM | NAME | DOB | Age |
| Dallas Stars | Rick Bowness | 1/25/1955 | 65 |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | John Tortorella | 6/24/1958 | 61 |
| Florida Panthers | Joel Quenneville | 9/15/1958 | 61 |
| Montreal Canadiens | Claude Julien | 4/23/1960 | 60 |
| Philadelphia Flyers | Alain Vigneault | 5/14/1961 | 59 |
| Calgary Flames | Geoff Ward | 4/8/1962 | 58 |
| Edmonton Oilers | Dave Tippett | 8/25/1961 | 58 |
| New York Islanders | Barry Trotz | 7/15/1962 | 57 |
| Arizona Coyotes | Rick Tocchet | 4/9/1964 | 56 |
| Boston Bruins | Bruce Cassidy | 5/20/1965 | 55 |
| Minnesota Wild | Dean Evason | 8/22/1964 | 55 |
| St. Louis Blues | Craig Berube | 12/17/1965 | 54 |
| Anaheim Ducks | Dallas Eakins | 2/27/1967 | 53 |
| New York Rangers | David Quinn | 7/30/1966 | 53 |
| Winnipeg Jets | Paul Maurice | 1/30/1967 | 53 |
| Los Angeles Kings | Todd McLellan | 10/3/1967 | 52 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | Mike Sullivan | 2/27/1968 | 52 |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | Jon Cooper | 8/23/1967 | 52 |
| Vegas Golden Knights | Peter DeBoer | 6/13/1968 | 52 |
| Carolina Hurricanes | Rod Brind’Amour | 8/9/1970 | 49 |
| Vancouver Canucks | Travis Green | 12/20/1970 | 49 |
| Colorado Avalanche | Jared Bednar | 2/28/1972 | 48 |
| Washington Capitals | Todd Reirden | 6/25/1971 | 48 |
| Nashville Predators | John Hynes | 2/10/1975 | 45 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | Sheldon Keefe | 9/17/1980 | 39 |
| Chicago Blackhawks | Jeremy Colliton | 1/13/1985 | 35 |
| Average | 53.0 | ||
| Median | 53 | ||
| Mode | 52 | ||
| Stan Dev | 6.7 |
It has not been easy to find statistics on the death rates per age demographic for the United States and Canada as a whole, but we did find statistics for one individual state; i.e. California.
Granted, the statistics for California are an incomplete sample, but within that state, cases contracted for persons between the ages of 35-49 had a .66 chance of being fatal, those between the ages of 50-59 had a 1.87 chance of being fatal, those between the ages of 60-64 had a 3.66 chance of being fatal, and those between the ages of 65-70 had a 6.68 chance of being fatal.
Suffice to say, if most of the NHL coaches contracted COVID-19, it could be like playing Russian Roulette. The demographics of Assistant Head Coaches likely skews similarly.
| Age Group | No. Cases | No. Deaths | Percent Fatal Cases |
| 35-49 | 37,442 | 249 | 0.66 |
| 50-59 | 23,926 | 447 | 1.87 |
| 60-64 | 9,431 | 345 | 3.66 |
| 65-69 | 6,841 | 457 | 6.68 |
By Diane Doyle
