It’s a date — training camp to begin on July 10
There’s an actual date.
And now there are big decisions for the Vancouver Canucks.
When the NHL announced Thursday that training camps will commence July 10 in Phase 3 of its return-to-play plan, initial relief of a significant signpost on the road to resumption — the season was paused March 12 by the novel coronavirus outbreak — was met with a mix of excitement, meetings and phone calls.
The conversations revolved around the length of camp and location, COVID-19 safety precautions, frequent and accurate testing and what the future holds.
Will post-season playdowns commence Aug. 1? If the Stanley Cup isn’t awarded until Oct. 1, when is the virtual draft and when does the 2020-21 regular season start? And what if there’s a severe spike in positive-test virus cases in the fall to put the league back on pause?
“I’m just trying to figure out a bunch of logistics,” Canucks general manager Jim Benning said. “We’re still waiting to hear some things from the (federal) government and figure out when we can get our guys in here and get them set up to go.”
The federal government is reportedly close to approving an amended additional 14-day quarantine period for re-entering Canada. That would be advantageous.
“It would be huge for us, if that’s going to happen,” Benning said of pending approval from Ottawa that would bolster hub-city bids for Vancouver and Edmonton.
“But I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. They haven’t even laid out to us how long training camp is going to be because they have to figure that out with the NHL Players’ Association. We just have to take one step at a time and I’m just going hour to hour.
“The draft is probably going to be at the end of the season. But there’s optimism to get back up and playing.”
The provincial amendment revealed Wednesday would allow the Canucks and essential staff to return from elsewhere in the country and abroad for commencement at camp. And through the cohort-quarantine concept, the Canucks could be housed in a hotel for the duration of the quarantine to meet that COVID-19 self-isolation requirement and the 50-person limit at Rogers Arena.
And even if Vancouver is not named one of two hub cities to host 12-team conference playdowns in advance of the 16-team Stanley Cup Playoffs — that announcement should come in the next two weeks — players could train here and cross the United States border without restrictions to face the Minnesota Wild in the best-offive qualifying round series when Phase 4 is confirmed.
Before the quarantine amendment, the Canucks had to consider a U.S. camp site. Players are creatures of habit — and why would goaltender Jacob Markstrom interrupt his skating and training regimen in Sweden to return here June 26 and self-isolate for 14 days in advance of camp?
Then again, if you factor in a twoweek camp here and then three exhibition games, it would make sense for the Canucks to relocate near the chosen western hub — Las Vegas remains the favourite — to get those critical preparation games in and be in proximity of the playdowns.
As for that additional 14-day quarantine, that may not be a big issue.
“Theoretically, there’s no problem with quarantining NHL teams as a group that can have contact with each other, but not outside their group,” said epidemiologist Zach Binney of the Atlanta-based Rollins School of Public Heath at Emory University, who also writes about injuries for Football Outsiders.
“If you do that for two weeks, and no cases appear, you could clear the whole team,” Binney said. “The major drawback would be if a case does appear within that team. That person would have to be isolated and the 14-day clock would restart for at least some portion of the team that had contact with the case.
“So you’re taking on that extra downside risk and potentially lengthening the quarantine period before you can get to playing games. You could greatly reduce the risk of a case appearing by testing everyone daily for 14 days and immediately isolate anyone who tests positive.
“Only allow players and staff who test negative the day before travelling (to Canada) and quarantine with the rest of the team. Then it would be fairly unlikely — though not impossible — you have a case in your group.”
There’s also a case for how to conduct the pace of camp.
Some players have skated privately, but many will have been off the ice for almost three months. Phase 2 of the return-to-play model meant club facilities opened Monday for voluntary training and skating in groups of six that must stay the same.
However, only three Canucks were in Vancouver earlier this week — Alex Edler, Troy Stecher and Chris Tanev — and Tanev has been skating in the city while Rogers Arena has remained closed. That could change with the camp date confirmation.
More importantly, summer ice is not winter ice. The prospect of a rash of groin pulls is another reason why expanded post-season rosters are expected to include 10 additional recalls from the Canucks’ AHL affiliate Utica Comets.
Brandon Sutter was injured twice this season — a Nov. 12 groin strain that sidelined him for 13 games and another ailment Dec. 17 that kept him off ice for a dozen games — and the paused season actually helped the 31-year-old forward.
“For me, the rest has been great,” he said. “I feel a lot better, but you can’t really replicate skating. There’s nothing like it. Everyone is going to be really rusty and two weeks might be fine, but you’re going to need longer to get your muscles going.
“When you first start skating in July, you’re sore the first 10 days
and you can barely move. So to go back and be in a playoff (qualifying) game is going to be a challenge.”
It’s why this camp is probably going to look different and coaches could be directing the team from a different and more safe distance.
Travis Green would savour his players quickly grasping system tweaks, but the coach may have to exude some patience. It’s still the 2019-20 season, but it’s going to feel like the Canucks are returning from an off-season.
“It’s almost like a new season,” Green said. “We have been thinking a little bit out of the box and taking a deeper dive. We have a couple of projects on the go with our coaches and analytical team to make a few tweaks.
“We’ve challenged our players to come back better because we need it. We’re going to have competition in our lineup and it’s putting yourself in position to be one of the guys playing Game 1. I have an idea of the lines, but we’ll see.”
There will be some camp drama at left wing among current and recalled forwards.
Sven Baertschi was demoted at the start of this season and still believes he’s an NHL player with a year left on his contract. And Micheal Ferland believes he’s over concussion-related issues.
Ferland, 28, was limited to 14 NHL games and five points (1-4) this season by two concussions — one in an Oct. 30 fight and another when he delivered a jarring hit on Dec. 10. He then lasted only one period on Feb. 14 after concussion-like symptoms in a conditioning assignment with the Comets.
He has three years left on his contract and is a US$3.5-million annual salary cap hit.
For Baertschi, showing something in the pre-season might pique the interest of another club. He’s not old at 27 and isn’t a fiscal strain at a $3.36-million cap hit.
The Canucks are loaded on the left side and, to his credit, Baertschi sucked up an early demotion and finished with 46 points (13-33) in 43 AHL games. But he needs to play in the top six in the NHL to be effective and a concussion-plagued career is worrisome for suitors. In 2019-20, he played only 26 games and managed 14 points (9-5).
There’s also the business side for the Canucks to consider now and in the future.
The Canucks had six home games remaining on their regular-season schedule and there’s a plan in place for single-game and season-ticket holders.
Season-ticket holders can have a credit applied to 2020-21 and receive additional food, pricing, down payment and flexibility benefits with no payment-plan fees. There’s also a refund option for single-game ticket holders.
As for next season, who knows? The Canucks are preparing for three possibilities for patrons: a normal season, fan restrictions to the arena and no fans at all.
OVERTIME: B.C. Premier John Horgan’s comment Wednesday about working with Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on a joint-letter venture was about the border issue and not the quarantine.
Theoretically, there’s no problem with quarantining NHL teams as a group that can have contact with each other.