Four-phase restart plan to get NHL back in action
While it remains to be seen when professional sports will be able to return to action, the National Hockey League has been working hard on a plan to eventually re-start the season and award the league’s most prestigious prize – the Stanley Cup – when the time comes.
According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the league has decided on a four-phase approach to return to action when government and health officials deem it safe to do so. Currently, the league is in the first phase of the plan which is essentially quarantine and self-isolation with no league activities taking place. The league will continue to remain in this phase for the foreseeable future. However, McKenzie suggests that the NHL is optimistic that they will be able to move onto phase two at some point this year.
Phase two would consist of gathering all international players and having them return to North America to report to their teams and begin some training. This phase would also consist of a two-week quarantine with small group training.
Phase three has been discussed in the media for several days now, generating quite a bit of buzz amongst fans and journalists alike. It would see four divisional cities host multiple teams in order to facilitate a two-to-three week full training camp in which full rosters would be able to train and practice together. The host cities have not yet been named and could require consent from both the municipal and federal government in order to gain approval and allow such an influx of people.
The final phase of the plan would be to begin playing games again. At this point in time, the league is still hoping to play some regular season games prior to beginning the playoffs. The amount of regular season games the league is looking to play has yet to be determined and could be subject to when the league is able to move past the first phase of the plan.
While beginning to play hockey games remains quite a pipedream at this point still, fans can at least now start getting excited at the prospect of the league returning eventually and what it could look like when it does. The fact that a proper plan has now been established will also help speed up the process of returning to play once government restrictions are lifted.
When the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were tight playoff races in both conferences with several close divisional races as well. It will be interesting to see whether a regular season can still be played and how a schedule is decided upon. Most teams across the league have already played around 70 games of the 82-game regular season and many will be hoping they will be given the chance to move up in the standings prior to the playoffs commencing.
In an ideal world the NHL will be returning to action sooner than later, but the league has reiterated the fact the health and safety of the players, staff and fans, is the top priority and games will only resume once it is deemed safe to do so.
