Return to Play Committee meeting
Pierre LeBrun: The Return to Play Committee had been scheduled to meet but the meeting was moved up to yesterday afternoon.
Pierre LeBrun: Nothing major is expected from the weekly meeting, just part of the process of getting this going eventually.
Pierre LeBrun: The NHL and NHL are focusing on ironing out and issues that there might be.
If all goes well maybe they’ll be able to agree on the format, rules, protocols, etc. by the end of the month.
Phase 2
TSN: Darren Dreger said that the NHL is hopeful for launching Phase 2 later this month. The NHL, NHLPA, and the Return to Play Committee are talking a lot about the protocol that would be implemented.
“Now, some of the protocol in Phase 2 is pretty obvious. It’s small gathering stuff. It’s social distancing. It’s scheduled shifts when players are allowed to return to their home clubs. It’s small dedicated team staff working on training and what not. It’s strict sanitization protocol. All of this could be decided and determined and agreed upon at some point this week. It could drift into next week.”
Arizona able to re-open sports leagues
Anne Ryman: Arizona Governor Doug Ducey announced that Major League sports can re-open after May 15th.
Richard Morin: The Coyotes responding to the Governor’s announcement: “We are aware of Governor Ducey’s announcement and will await direction from the NHL.”
Hub Cities
Adrian Dater: Have been hearing that Arizona could be emerging as the leading city to host NHL playoff games.
Craig Morgan: A league source is saying that Arizona being a leading candidate to be an NHL playoff hub is “completely false.”
It could become a fallback option.
Adrian Dater: believes that Minnesota/St. Paul would be the most likely hub city for the Western Conference and/or the Central division: “Minnesota has low Covid numbers and a ton of rinks. Hotel space in St. Paul isn’t great though.
Jeff Paterson: British Columbia Premier John Horgan said on CTV News that he will be talking to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman about Vancouver and British Columbia hosting NHL playoff games.