Expecting to permit its players to return to team facilities in the coming weeks, the NHL on Monday issued a 21-page memo to its teams and players laying out guidelines that will be in place for Phase 2 of the return-to-play protocol.
In Phase 2, which the memo said will be “strictly voluntary,” players will be allowed to skate in small groups. The vast majority of players have not been on the ice since the season was suspended March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The guidelines would allow for a maximum of six players at a time to train at the team facility. On-ice workouts would be for players only, so no coaches or team personnel will be allowed on the ice, though they can observe in person.
The memo said goalies will be allowed to hire an independent goalie coach to work with on a one-on-one basis. That coach cannot be a team employee.
Players must wear face coverings, except when skating or exercising off ice.
If tests are available in their city, players and club personnel will be required to be tested for the coronavirus 48 before returning to the team facility. If not, they must prove they self-quarantined in that city for at least two weeks.
After that, if possible, they would then be tested twice a week going forward.
“As an overriding principle, testing of asymptomatic players and club personnel must be done in the context of excess testing capacity, so as to not deprive health care workers, vulnerable populations and symptomatic individuals from necessary diagnostic tests,” stressed the NHL, with testing limited in some areas.
The guidelines also said players and club personnel must “record symptoms and conduct temperature checks” daily, before arriving at a team facility.
If you want to spend Memorial Day reading the full memo, here you go.
According to the memo, players who currently live in an NHL market who don’t play for that team will be allowed to skate and work out at that facility. That is noteworthy as it relates to the Penguins because, for example, Nick Bjugstad and Jason Zucker both returned to Minnesota after hockey was halted.
The memo didn’t give an exact date on when Phase 2 will begin, only that the NHL is targeting early June. The NHL will continue to “monitor developments in each of the club’s markets, and may adjust the overall timing if appropriate.”
That last part is significant, because on April 29 the NHL and the NHLPA in a joint statement said their hope was to begin Phase 2 in “the mid-to-later portion of May.” Obviously, that timeline proved to be at least a little optimistic.
The league also gave no indication in Monday’s memo of how long Phase 2 would go on. Phase 3 would be full-team training camps. Phase 4 is the games, and there is a lot that must still be figured out before things progress to that point.
At least we have a good idea of what the playoff bracket would look like. Friday, the NHLPA’s executive board voted to move forward with a 24-team playoff that begins with 16 teams playing a five-game play-in round. Through their player rep, 29 of 31 teams, including the Penguins, approved that framework.
Under that format, the Penguins open against the Montreal Canadiens.
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.
First Published: May 25, 2020, 3:56 p.m.
