Players allowed to head home as NHL issues updated guidelines for potential return
The NHL offered further guidelines on Monday for a potential return to play as the world at large deals with the coronavirus that has brought countless walks of life to a halt.
If the league returns this season, it won’t be until late April at the earliest.
The NHL issued a four-point release via Twitter:
• Effective immediately, players can opt to return home (outside of the club’s home city, including outside of North America, to the extent flights are available.)
The NHL and NHL Players Association had previous advised players to remain in their club’s home town.
Hours after the NHL made granted approval to return home, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau urged any Canadian citizens abroad to return home as soon as possible.
Trudeau announced his countries borders would be closed, somewhat, beginning on Wednesday as limited international flights would be accepted in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver.
Permanent Canadian residents, immediate family members of Canadian citizens, diplomats, air crews, and United States citizens are still being allowed into the country for the time being.
Of the 970 players who have played in at least one NHL game this season, 407 Canadian-born (41.9 percent).
• The self-quarantine period recommended by the NHL should continue within the player’s home through and including Friday, March 27, unless a longer period may be required in accordance with local mandates related to travel. Players should continue to report immediately any symptoms or testing results to club medical staff.
• At the end of the self-quarantine period, and depending on world developments between now and then, consideration will be given to allowing the opening of club facilities to players in scheduled and coordinated small groups for voluntary training and care of the players on the same basis as in the offseason.
On Monday, the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ practice facility, announced it will be closed indefinitely. It had previous been scheduled to be closed only through Sunday.
The medical facility adjacent to the sports complex will remain open.
• The league’s objective will be that, in addition to continuing regular updates, it will be able to provide high-level guidance on the potential of opening a training camp period roughly 45 days into the 60-day period advised by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s against gatherings of 50 or more people.
That appears to be a highly optimistic framework.
On Sunday, ESPN reported the NBA, which operates on a similar schedule as the NHL and shares 11 arenas with the NHL, views a return to action in mid-June as a best-case scenario.
The championship series for each league typically take place during that month.
The American Hockey League announced its indefinite delay will not be lifted before May. That league also recommended its players return to their primary residences.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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