Returning NHLers must quarantine
Proper protocols would need to be followed for crossing border, PM says
The NHL could face another hurdle if the league decides to continue the 2019-20 season in the near future — getting non-Canadian resident players across the border to join their respective teams.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Sunday that players would — at a minimum — need to follow quarantine protocols if they were to arrive in Canada while the border remains closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“I think it’s a question we’ll have to look into,” Trudeau said during a press briefing. “Certainly at a strict minimum, anyone who arrives from another country will have to follow all the rules of quarantine in an extremely strict manner, but we’re not there yet in our discussions with the NHL.”
“We recognize that it’s a possibility, but it depends on an enormous amount of things, and I don’t want to speculate on this until there’s more discussion.”
Reports last week suggested
Edmonton and Toronto were being looked at as possible “hockey pod” cities that could host the remainder of the NHL season during the summer months. Games would be played in air-conditioned arenas without fans.
A person familiar with discussions told The Associated Press that the most aggressive timetable would have players returning to their home rinks as early as May 15, followed by a training camp and possible exhibition games in June.
Under that timeline, the regular season would resume in July with the Stanley Cup final likely stretching into September.
The league and the NHL Players’ Association have formed a joint committee to determine a path that could get games back on the ice sometime in July without fans in attendance. The committee said Wednesday in a statement that they “have not made any decisions or set a timeline for possible return-toplay scenarios,” but remained hopeful that players could return to their teams for “smallgroup activities” by mid-to-late May. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said recently that no decisions have been made and noted that government and medical officials will ultimately make the call on when sports can return. The season was paused on March 12, one day after the World Health Organization classified the COVID-19 spread as a pandemic — and a day after the NBA suspended its season.