The NHL and the NHLPA are coming to tentative agreements about their return to play procedures and the CBA itself. The NHL hasn’t had a good history of getting the CBA thing handled in a timely fashion so that is nice to hear. Their Covid-19 procedures have now been publicized for the first time. I don’t know how much confidence they inspire even though they are trying their best to get it right. I think it is one of those things where even if the NHL does everything right it doesn’t guarantee a successful return to play.
So here are some details of the NHL’s return to play plan:
In the Bubble: Each team will be permitted to bring a maximum of 52 individuals inside the secure zone, including ownership, players, coaches, executives and staff.
Teams are permitted to bring no more than 31 players. The list of each traveling part must be submitted to the NHL by July 13, the day training camps are scheduled to open.
Each team will have at least one physician, one security representative, one club Phase 4 compliance officer, and one content creator / social media member included in the traveling party.
Not really sure you need a social media member, but OK.
Testing: Every person inside the NHL’s “bubble” will be tested for COVID-19 daily via nasal swab, also administered temperature checks and symptom screenings.
The list of people requiring daily testing is massive and includes but is not limited to: all players, staff, officials, arena ice crew, security, hotel bartenders, food service staff, arena food and beverage staff, hotel housekeeping, hotel kitchen and food prep staff, and bus drivers. Simply put, any person who has contact or may come into contact (even indirectly) will be tested daily.
With 24 teams inside the bubble (at 52 people per team), that is 1,248 tests required daily for team personnel only. Add in all of the other levels and it is easy to imagine the NHL requiring upwards of 2,000 tests daily to begin the 24-team tournament. That is 20,000 tests in first 10 days alone.
I agree these tests need to happen for a return to play possibility. The only way out of this mess is to test as much as possible. However, I still have reservations about pouring a bunch of resources into testing for professional athletes when the testing for the overall population remains below what it needs to be. Although, the two hub cities will be in Canada and not the United States so that right there is a step in the right direction and makes me feel a little better about it. If one of the hub cities were in the US I would not like testing resources of this magnitude being used for professional sports given the current issues in the United States. This NHL bubble of people in Edmonton and Toronto are still huge and there will be cases.
Family visits: Players’ immediate families (spouse/significant other and children only) will be permitted to join the NHL’s bubble during the Conference Finals and Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton. Families will be allowed to stay in the same hotel room as the player, only after an acceptable quarantine and daily testing have been conducted inside the bubble.
That means players advancing to the Conference Final will go a minimum of five weeks away from their families.
This is quite a sacrifice for the players to be making and anybody who minimizes it is a dope. Five weeks is a long time and a lot of these players have young families. I keep coming back to the question: is all of this worth it? I find myself landing on, no. I don’t think hockey really ranks up there on the scale of important things that need to get up and running right now. I get it, this is a hockey blog for hockey fans. I don’t get any pleasure out of the league not starting up, but the reality of the situation is what it is.
Positive tests: Any person inside the bubble who tests positive will immediately be isolated.
A second “confirmatory” test will be administered. If that test returns positive, then that person will be instructed to isolate until medical clearance is administered. Even if that confirmatory test is negative, that person shall remain isolated and will be tested again in 24 hours - only until a second negative test is provided will that person be permitted to exit isolation.
An ‘asymptomatic’ confirmed positive case will be allowed to rejoin after two consecutive negative tests over a 48-hour period, or after 10 days of passage in isolation.
A ‘symptomatic’ confirmed positive case will also be able to rejoin after symptoms have subsided (no fever, no respiratory symptoms) for a minimum of 72 hours, provided the person was in self-isolation for a minimum of 10 days since the onset of symptoms.
Players aren’t in the bubble yet and we have quite a number of positive tests.
Logically speaking, when you get everybody in the controlled (as much as it can be) environment of the bubble it should be easier to manipulate the players’ behavior and surroundings in a positive way. If you are looking for a glass half full approach the English Premier League just had these results
Glass half empty? What is going to happen if a rash of positive tests happen in the Conference Finals or Stanley Cup Final? Does the series get delayed or does the team have to effectively roster what would amount to an AHL team? Does it matter how good the players are? What if it is Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang on one team, and Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and David Pastrnak on the other all test positive? Would anybody really want to watch that series? After all professional sports are an entertainment product and having Sam Lafferty and the ilk replacing these players doesn’t really sound entertaining to me. That’s the thing about hosting this tournament. You can have everything go right until it doesn’t and there’s the potential to play a lot of these games and still have to shut it down before a champion is crowned.
I applaud the detail put into the return to play procedures. The players and staff are going to have to show incredible discipline and transparency with their actions and even then it is an uphill battle against a formidable opponent.
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
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