NHL and NHLPA agree on protocols to restart season (part 2)

Posted by | On 7 July,2020 | In NHL news

Montreal Canadiens owner Geoff Molson said during a conference call in June that the players would be pretty well-protected from being exposed and it’s going to be a completely different way for all watching hockey and being around a team since players would be well protected throughout the process.

The protocols also consist of a provision for Commissioner Gary Bettman in consultation with the NHLPA executive director Don Fehr to delay, postpone, or cancel games in the event of a coronavirus outbreak.

Assuming the protocols are approved by the two sides, teams are hoped to open training camps on July 13 before traveling to the two host cities for games. Players have skated and trained off-ice in voluntary, small-group workouts since June 8, about three months after hockey was halted on March 12 with 189 regular-season games remaining.

Resuming for the playoffs is considered as a stirring victory for the league, which like other top leagues faced the prospect of losing millions without the television revenue tied to the post-season. There were also deep concerns about canceling the remainder of the season and word of positive tests didn’t help.

Boston’s Matt Grzelcyk called the positive test results as “eye-opening” but expected. In recent weeks, some players expressed concerns about the uncertainty surrounding a resumption.

Montreal goaltender Carey Price said that they had obviously a unique situation right now and the NHL and NHLPA were trying to make the best of a very difficult situation. Moving forward, he’d like to play, but they had a lot of questions that need to be answered as well as a lot of scenarios that need to be covered.

If the protocols and a CBA extension cover those scenarios for enough players and owners, there may be a path forward to hand out the Stanley Cup. Since 1893, the Cup has not been awarded only twice: in 1919, when the final couldn’t be completed due to the Spanish flu pandemic, and in 2005 when the season was wiped out by a lockout.