The NHL is unique in its plan to resume the game. The 24-team setup is to take place in two hub cities. The 12 participating Eastern Conference teams will play in Toronto, and the 12 participating Western Conference teams will compete in Edmonton, where the conference finals and the Stanley Cup finals will also take place.
By Friday, Toronto had reported 14,777 confirmed cases with 1,117 deaths since the novel coronavirus pandemic began. Edmonton had reported 1,202 cases and 19 deaths. Canada had reported a total of 106,882 cases and 8,748 deaths.
“Trends in both cities are still low and low, very low compared to the United States,” said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Health Research, a non-profit think tank. Zuckerman also pointed out that Toronto has a mask requirement for public interiors.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said on Saturday that “a positive test shouldn’t end the tournament,” but an outbreak could force things to change.
The league also viewed Las Vegas and Vancouver as hub cities before changing gears. Coronavirus cases have skyrocketed in Las Vegas, and Vancouver has withdrawn from the race. Other cities that were considered late were Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas.
The daily number of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. rose this week after months of decline. Other sports have announced plans to return to the game and started training and practice, but have already encountered roadblocks.
MLS was the first major U.S. team sport to resume since the pandemic started. However, two teams failed in the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex outside of Orlando after FC Dallas and Nashville SC were forced to withdraw due to virus outbreaks. At the same location, the NBA is in the early stages of restarting its season on July 30 with 22 teams, and players and staff cannot enter or re-enter the league bubble without isolation.
There are a number of safeguards for those involved in the NHL’s efforts. When the teams reach their hub, the league tests every day everyone who is considered “club staff”. Players, coaches and staff also receive daily temperature checks and symptom exams. The league will also test people every day who have direct or indirect contact with teams – such as hotel employees.
A player must isolate himself if he tests positive. For a player who is asymptomatic, there are two ways to get out of isolation: he must test negative or spend 10 days in isolation. If he is still asymptomatic then he can return to the ice. A player who is symptomatic is faced with different standards: after being isolated for at least 10 days, he must test negative twice or show no symptoms for more than 72 hours.
“Daily tests may seem exaggerated, but as far as I can tell, it doesn’t hurt,” said Zuckerman.
Zuckerman added that daily tests are only as good as the accuracy of the tests and the speed with which the results are delivered. The NHL works with companies in every hub city to ensure that the testing process runs smoothly.
Training camps and moving players from their teams’ cities to the hub cities later this month appear to be the most risky parts of the NHL plan, health experts said.
“The trickiest part of a bladder is getting everyone uninfected into the bladder. I’m sure this will be an even more important challenge as they go to Canada and don’t want to import infections from the United States.” Binney said.
Training camps will open on Monday and teams will travel to major cities on July 26th.
The players do not have to isolate themselves from the ice rink during the training camp. Instead, players and club staff should stay at home as much as possible, avoid unnecessary interactions with non-family members, and avoid spending social time in close contact.
NHL clubs test players and club staff every other day during the training camp. The results must be available within 24 hours. People whose results are not received within this time will not be admitted to team training facilities. Each team must also continue to record symptoms and perform temperature tests daily. Starting seven days before teams travel to the hub cities, the league “strongly recommended” that family members limit their exposure to non-family members as much as possible and stay at home to reduce the potential exposure.
The restrictions are tightened when teams with charter planes arrive in the hub cities. During the first five days, individuals are allowed to “perform their essential work functions and only engage in social interactions with individuals from their own club’s tour group and otherwise remain in their respective hotel rooms,” according to the League’s guidelines.
However, these rules only seem to apply to off-ice behavior. The teams will take part in an exhibition game between July 28th and 30th, before the game is officially resumed on August 1st. The teams also share hotels in both hub cities.
“My biggest fear is exactly what we saw in Major League Soccer,” said Binney.
FC Dallas and Nashville SC appeared to be adding coronavirus cases shortly before the trip, and the teams’ positive tests increased as they reached Florida. They had to withdraw from the tournament and forced MLS to change the schedule.
Binney said he would like the NHL to be isolated longer as the teams arrive in the hub cities. But some time in isolation, along with daily testing for more than just players and coaches, offers an approach that is “better than nothing”.
“It’s kind of a minimum,” added Zuckerman.
According to Binney, the NHL plans to do three things that are important to bring back a sport during the pandemic: First, it centralizes its teams and confiscates them. Next, frequent daily tests are planned for a number of people. After all, it doesn’t try to play in the United States.
“Between these three things, I think the NHL is probably the best shot,” he said. “But my main concern will be to get everyone in [the hub cities] not infected. “
