NHL, players agree on deal to ensure labour peace
The threat of COVID-19 lockdown still looms over the NHL, but not a lockout.
From the uncertainty of finishing this season comes a minor miracle, a tentative collective bargaining agreement announced Monday night — and potential labour peace until the summer of 2026. Neither side would comment publicly until voting takes place this week, requiring a two-thirds majority of the board of governors and a majority of the more than 700 members of the players’ association, though most key details were already leaked.
For anxious fans with a blank calendar, fill in next Monday as the start of camps for the 24 teams in the playoff tournament at their home facilities, followed by a July 26 move to the two hub cities of Edmonton and Toronto and an Aug. 1 start to qualifying and round robin seeding games. It’s hoped everything can wrap up by early October in Edmonton, where the conference finals and Stanley Cup championship are scheduled. Tied into the CBA were protocols of Phase 3 and 4 of the return-to-play plan, including COVID testing and restrictions in the bubble environment of rinks, hotels and buses.
A key part of the plan will see family allowed to visit, but not until the last two rounds.
Any player who must leave the bubble environment for any kind of home emergency will be isolated for four days and need four negative test results before coming back to their team. There are to be 31 players among the 52-person entourage of each of the 12 hub clubs. Hotel workers and bus drivers are among the people in the teams’ bubble who’ll be tested for COVID-19.
DON’T GET MUSHY ON US
An ice cream cone could become a gooey mess in the heat and humidity of August, but what about the ice in a hockey rink?
With the CBA pushed through, the next task for the league will be keeping its main stages, Scotiabank Arena and Rogers Place, from becoming mush.
Commissioner Gary Bettman got out in front of that months ago, insisting ice-making technology has advanced to the point where high temperatures wouldn’t be a problem. The experts say there’ll be one huge advantage for arena staff.
“There aren’t going to be fans in the building,” said Bob Hunter, former general manager of Scotiabank Arena and now CEO of Toronto Wolfpack rugby. “That’s just as important as what the weather is outside. You get 18,000 people in there and they generate a lot of heat. By the second and third periods, it’s a challenge to keep the ice hard and fast.
Earlier, Leafs president Brendan Shanahan had suggested the empty arenas might give the NHL an opportunity to test new innovations on its broadcasts and game operations side.