It’s up to Jackets not to burst ‘bubble’
The opportunity was too enticing to pass up.
Presented with a question about the NHL using an honor system and a list of protocols to prevent coronavirus outbreaks during the next phase of its 24-team return plan, Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen couldn’t help but crack a joke about one guy he’s not concerned about.
“I know Torts will have no problem social distancing,” Kekalainen said of John Tortorella, his team’s occasionally cantankerous head coach who fully grasps the value of solitude. “He’ll be fine with his horses and dogs.”
As for the rest of the Jackets’ players, coaches and staff who begin training camp on Monday and plan to travel July 26 to their quarantine “bubble” in Toronto?
Well, the league’s plan to minimize COVID-19 infections will be largely up to them and their personal choices away from team facilities. Will they wear masks, socially distance themselves from the public and continue to sing “Happy Birthday” twice while scrubbing their hands?
We’re about to find out. “We’ve already had discussion as a team, on our group chat, that we’re all doing this to be able to come back and play, and we don’t want anything to compromise that,” said defenseman David Savard, the Jackets’ NHLPA player representative and frequent organizer of those chats.
“We’ve talked about being smart about going into the public only when you have to, and make sure when we go home, wash our hands, all that stuff … and I think guys are going to follow it. Guys didn’t come back from all over the world (to their NHL home cities) to not be able to play.”
To assure that happens, it’s paramount for players and staff of all 24 teams to keep COVID-19 infections low — something that may be challenging even if they strictly adhere to the protocols and honor system at home.
The virus that causes COVID-19 is spiking across much of the U.S., largely uncontrolled, and it’s surging in several areas with NHL teams that will compete in the new tournament — including teams in Florida, Texas, Arizona and Nevada.
The concern level about those markets was low among officials from the league and NHLPA during a conference call with reporters Saturday, but the Tampa Bay Lightning have already had to shut down their practice facility once during Phase 2 workouts and that was three weeks ago — when players were limited to groups no larger than six.
The Lightning have since re-opened their facility, but case numbers in Florida have skyrocketed. The most recent update on infections among NHL players, released July 6, reported that 35 players had tested positive since the start of Phase 2 on June 8, including 28 who tested positive while participating in Phase 2 activities plus 12 more the league is “aware of,” who tested positive outside of league-sponsored tests.
Locally, the Blue Jackets will train in Nationwide Arena and the attached Ohiohealth Ice Haus. The Downtown facility is in the heart of Franklin County, which has seen the highest number of total cases in the state and adds more on a daily basis.
Helping to combat outbreaks are increased health protocols and preventative measures required for players and members of each team’s traveling party during camps in Phase 3, which built upon a foundation of stringent protocols required for Phase 2 voluntary workouts that started in early June.
Tests for the virus now will be conducted every other day, rather than twice a week, and twice-daily temperature checks remain mandatory for players and all those with access to them. Masks are also mandatory for everything outside of off-ice workouts and practices, along with stringent disinfection procedures that will keep equipment managers and athletic trainers busy.
Away from the arena, however, players and other team staff will be on their own. That could be a troublesome concept if even one or two people put themselves at a higher risk of infection.
Perhaps no other professional athletes, however, can rally the troops around a common cause the way hockey players can. The Blue Jackets already are doing so.
“It’s just the temptations you have in your own city, and that’s where I think it comes down to your commitment to, ‘Do you want to win a Stanley Cup or not?’ ” said captain Nick Foligno, who left his wife and three young children in Ontario to rejoin his teammates in Columbus.
“I think that’s what it really comes down to. Are you willing to sacrifice some short-term boredom or whatever you want to call it, to allow your team an opportunity to win a Cup? What a great message you’ll be sending your teammates if you’re willing to do that. I think it will bring teams closer together.”
Either way, the answer will be revealed in the next couple of weeks. bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger