How do you come back from a public health lockdown? The precedent for anything like this was set in 1919 when the National Hockey League did not award a Stanley Cup that season for the Spanish Flu pandemic.
The COVID19 pandemic is the same and different all at once.
The NHL started rolling out news over the holiday weekend and included restart protocols for each team and the league as a whole.
The protocols are not unreasonable, and though somewhat onerous, they are essential to bringing live sport back to the landscape.
On Tuesday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly provided more information via video conference call with media.
“I think it’s been an important day for sports and for the NHL in this incredibly unique, difficult and trying time. We hope that this is a step back towards normalcy.” Bettman said to open the conference call. ” Obviously everything we’re focused on starts with health and safety and people’s well‑being, but we think we’ve been able to work very collaboratively with the NHL Players’ Association and the players to come up with a framework that is fair and has integrity and should result in a terrific competitive playoffs and ultimately the awarding of the best trophy in all of sports.
“Obviously there are lots of things that have to be done, but this marks a very important step along the journey that we’re undertaking.”
The NHL has been deliberate with its return to play protocol and the proposal of two hub cities for games, with no fans. Safety of players and all associated staff and fans is the centerpiece of the effort, with COVID19 testing at the core.
“Our hope is that by the time we open Phase 2 — and Phase 2 is where our clubs can open their training and practice facilities, make them available for small group activities by the players — our strong hope is that most, if not all, of the 24 teams coming back to play will have the ability to test their players prior to engaging in Phase 2,” Daly described. “And our Phase 2 protocol, I think, specifically specifies testing at least twice weekly and perhaps more.
“The League has worked hard in the interim to essentially be able to help clubs in the event they’re in need of testing resources and we’ll be there to help provide those resources for them,” Daly added.
If the NHL can negotiate the path through Phase 2, then Phase 3 is opened.
“Phase 3 then contemplates the opening of mandatory training camps in home club cities,” Daly said. “And, during Phase 3, we would anticipate that the pace of testing would increase even further. The Phase 3 protocol is a work in progress at this point, so that hasn’t been finalized. And then Phase 4 — which is the competition phase, once we’re in the hub cities — the League is going to be in control of all the protocols related to the games in the hub cities. And we will have regular daily testing protocol where players are tested every evening, and those results are obtained before they would leave their hotel rooms the next morning. We’ll know if we have a positive test and whether the player has to self‑quarantine himself as a result of that positive test.
“…the testing program we contemplate is rigorous and comprehensive. It’ll pick up throughout the process. Obviously, initially the clubs will bear the cost of that. Ultimately, the league will bear the cost of that in connection with the competition phase of the tournament. And it’s expensive, as you mentioned, but we think it’s really a foundational element of what we’re trying to accomplish.”
The proposal, at this point, is for 24 teams to enter a playoff season. The process will include a seeding of the top four teams from each division with a three-game round robin tournament. The other 16 teams in the playoffs will play a best-of-five series to whittle the total to a bottom eight teams.
From there, the Stanley Cup Playoffs the first two rounds of the playoffs will be either a five or seven-game series. The Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final will be seven-game series.the final two rounds will be best-of-7.
No hard date has been set for the NHL return. So much depends on local COVID19 trajectories, team health, player health, staff, league and media health.
The NHL will pay for all team testing.
The NHL will be saddled with the costs of restarting a season dominant since 12 March. Without fans, the revenues are slashed and millions of dollars will be out the door.
There are no guarantees the league will return to play, but the protocols are in place.
With contributions from Lou.Lafrado@prohockeynews.com
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