CAPTAIN CRUNCH
Bo Horvat will attend start of Vancouver’s camp July 10 at Rogers Arena
Bo Horvat is no math major.
However, the Vancouver Canucks captain was pretty good at adding up what had to occur so he could be here for the start of training camp.
The birth of his first child in Ontario had to be followed by getting back to B.C., adhering to an NHL coronavirus pandemic quarantine edict — eight days for those arriving from another province via a commercial flight — and hitting the ice on July 10 for camp at Rogers Arena.
When Gunnar John Horvat arrived three weeks early on Sunday, the travel arrangements suddenly simplified. His wife, Holly, doesn’t leave hospital until Wednesday. Bo is staying in her room, but he can’t return once he leaves, in accordance with pandemic safety measures.
“We were just trying to figure what was going to go on, so this makes it easier, for sure,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning said Monday of having his captain on hand to help set the tempo at camp from the outset.
What doesn’t need figuring out is that safety will remain at the forefront of every phase of the NHL’s evolving return-toplay plan. Players who arrived here from Europe and the U.S. over the weekend are mandated to undergo a 14-day quarantine in a hotel, during which time they can’t interact with other players or the populace.
Those driving here from another province, or those who remained in B.C., don’t have to follow a quarantine edict. But once camp starts, players are to head straight to their places of residence after training and practice, and have been directed not to interact with the public.
“They’ll continue to go through the protocols, and hopefully, we can get through this next stage,” said Benning.
Not that it’s going to be easy.
The NHL released a statement on Monday revealing that 15 players of more than 250 involved in Phase 2 of the return plan — skating and training in small groups at club facilities — have tested positive for COVID-19. A total of 1,450 tests were administered to the group. Those results are in addition to 11 players having tested positive outside of Phase 2.
To get to Phase 4 and the possible resumption of play in August, the NHL and the NHL Players Association have to still reach several agreements — including one to take effect should a player opt out of post-season play for personal family reasons or health concerns.
“We’re constantly talking to our players and I haven’t had any players come to me with those concerns,” said Benning. “But I know they (concerns) are real and that (opting out) could happen.”
Vancouver’s non-negotiable COVID-19 safeguards led to the city’s removal as a hubcity favourite on Thursday, leaving Las Vegas and Toronto as front-runners.
The kicker for post-season play? What happens if a player is diagnosed with the virus and he’s asymptomatic?
Can he still play? Does the team, or the tournament, need to be shut down and quarantined to figure out the tracking trail?
In Vancouver, that would have been the case, but not so in other places.
“Decisions were made provincially that I fully support,” said Benning. “Dr. Bonnie Henry (provincial health officer) has done a wonderful job of controlling (COVID-19) cases here in Vancouver and in B.C.”
‘BEEN THERE, DONE THAT’
The virtual draft lottery on Friday looked very familiar to Benning.
No GMs shifting nervously before the TV cameras, but that Zoom-like version still caught glimpses of disappointment on the faces of Ottawa’s Pierre Dorion and Steve Yzerman from Detroit. The Sens and Red Wings had favourable odds of getting the first pick to land highly touted Alexis Lafreniere, but the balls didn’t fall their way.
The Senators wound up with the third and fifth selections, while the Red Wings, who had the best odds, slid to fourth.
In 2017, the Canucks fell three spots to select Elias Pettersson fifth overall. In 2018, the Canucks fell from sixth to seventh and Quinn Hughes fell all the way to them.
This year, in a theatre of the bizarre scenario, a placeholder team not among the bottom eight took the top lottery slot. It means one of eight teams eliminated in the qualifying round will have a 12.5 per cent chance of securing the top pick.
And if the Canucks lose to the Minnesota Wild in their best-of-five qualifying series, they could wind up with the 112-point QMJHL winger. Imagine that? Or course, that wouldn’t meet the get-to-the-playoffs mantra.
“Our luck has been so bad with all that, if it happens, it happens,” Benning said of the lottery circus.
“But I’m not going to waste one ounce of energy worrying about it or thinking about it. We worked hard the last four years and have scratched and clawed to draft and bring players in so we could be a playoff team.
“That’s where our focus is. All the other stuff, let the chips fall where they may.”