Players being asked to stay near home NHL cities

Photo credit:Sergei Belski/USA Today Sports

4 years ago

As the uncertainty surrounding the future of the 2019-20 National Hockey League season continues to linger, according to a report from Sportsnet’s Chris Johnson all NHL players are being asked to remain around their home NHL markets (for now).

From Johnston:

But for now, in addition to self-quarantining, players are being told to stay close to their home NHL cities. In fact, a memo went out Saturday requiring any member of a Canadian team that left for the U.S. to return immediately so that “they can serve their government-mandated quarantine expeditiously.”
The league views that as an essential step while it tries to piece together a plan that will allow for the Stanley Cup to be awarded this season.

The rationale behind the NHL’s move is fairly simple: in the event that the season is able to resume, the league wants to be able to ramp things up fairly quickly. That would require the 700-ish NHL players to be available – and free of any government-mandated restrictions that related to recent travel – and since the players are currently under contract, the clubs (and the league) have the ability to make these requests of the players.

Obviously this is a very fluid situation, but with an eye towards (eventually) completing this season in some way, shape or form, the NHL is trying to keep its options open.

Those players are essentially trying to avoid contracting COVID-19 before teams get the go-ahead to open facilities for them to return for skates and workouts in small groups — something the NHL has told its clubs will be at least another full week away, if not longer, according to Daly.
As a result, NHL players are currently in pretty much the same situation as the rest of us: Sitting at home, with little to do but wait and wonder about what comes next.

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Players being asked to stay near home NHL cities

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