CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Four months after the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) forced the NHL to interrupt its season, players returned to the ice for a brief training camp (July 13-25) before the 24-team playoff tournament begins Aug. 1.
The league and the NHL Players’ Association approved a return-to-play plan and a six-year extension to the collective bargaining agreement. Nothing like a pandemic and its effects upon league revenue to ensure six years of labour peace.
In fairness, both sides had to ensure stability for the next several years. The pandemic will reduce hockey-related revenue for at least the next two seasons. A potential labour war would have made matters worse.
Something to look forward to is the NHL’s potential return to the Olympics in 2022 and 2026, pending talks with the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Considering the depleted quality of play in men’s hockey during the 2018 Olympics, the IOC will likely be quite receptive to the return of NHL players.
But enough about collective bargaining and the Olympics. As the headlines proclaimed last week, hockey is back!
Well, not quite yet. The teams participating in the playoff tournament must get through the training camp period without a significant spike in positive COVID-19 tests among their players before flying Sunday to the host cities in Edmonton and Toronto, where they’ll be quarantined away from the general public.
During this return-to-play plan, teams have been instructed not to specify why players might be absent from their lineups. It’s done under the guise of protecting a player's medical history during this pandemic.
All they can indicate is the player is “unfit to play” or “unfit to participate”. That includes if they are sidelined by an injury – no more upper-body or lower-body injury.
The problem, of course, is it sparks unwanted conjecture over a player's condition. If he is absent from the lineup for even an innocuous reason, fans and pundits automatically suspect it’s COVID-related.
The absence of Sidney Crosby from Pittsburgh Penguins’ practice sessions this weekend best highlights the silliness of this policy. While the Penguins’ captain appears to be dealing with a minor ailment unrelated to COVID-19, the league-imposed cone of silence prompted speculation about his status.
Another example was Johnny Gaudreau. The Calgary Flames’ first line winger spent last week skating with a smaller group of players before finally reuniting with his usual linemates on Sunday. Despite Flames’ general manager Brad Treliving’s efforts to clear the air, Gaudreau’s situation sparked baseless whispers ranging from coronavirus exposure to poor conditioning to questions about his long-term future in Calgary.
At least we have a schedule for the start of the playoff tournament. If you’re a hockey junkie, expect to spend a lot of time in front of your television, laptop or handheld device.
Following a three-day exhibition schedule from July 28-30, the best-of-five qualifying round and the round-robin seeding round for the top four teams in each conference kicks off on Aug. 1. It features potentially five-to-six games daily until Aug. 9.
Lyle Richardson is a freelance writer with the Sporting News and runs the website Spector’s Hockey. His column will appear in The Guardian throughout the NHL hockey season.
