Larry Brooks of the New York Post is reporting that the NHL has formed a Return To Play Committee. The group, consisting of representatives from the NHL and NHLPA, is trying to agree on broader concepts of how the league would return from suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The news comes on the heels of a news leak that the NBA will reopen team practice facilities where local restrictions have been eased on Friday.
According to the New York Post, these are the players and management involved with the committee:
Gary Bettman, Bill Daly, and senior VPs Colin Campbell and Steve Hatze Petros represent the NHL, while the NHLPA is represented by Don Fehr, Mathieu Schneider, general counsel Don Zavelo, divisional rep Steve Webb, and active players John Tavares, Connor McDavid, James van Riemsdyk and Ron Hainsey. Medical advisers from both the league and union are added to the calls when appropriate.
After abandoning an initial plan that would see the league play a single neutral site, the NHL has been vetting a dozen NHL cities that could be used as possible hubs to complete the rest of the season. A best-case-scenario plan would see one centralized city from each division host all games for those groups of teams. The two leading cities at this point are Toronto and Columbus.
The report comes a day after former NHL All-Star Game MVP, John Scott, floated inside information that the league is targeting June 1 as the date where NHL camps can open.
If the NHL comes up with a concept that could work, the NHLPA will have to sign off on the plan. There are risks and sacrifices that players will have to make if they do come back. Beyond risking getting infected with the coronavirus, players who make deep playoff run with their teams could be away from their families for up to four months.
Brooks added:
The “day-in-the-life” itinerary under which players would be quarantined has yet been presented to the union. The idea is to keep the circle as tight as possible, but that would mean everyone associated with the effort — players, staff, on-ice officials, off-ice officials, NHL staff, arena laborers, bus drivers, food preparers, wait staff, et al — would be quarantined in a hotel for weeks on end, leaving only to head to the rink.
