Temper The Excitement

Easy there, Jon Stewart. While the excitement builds for many over the potential return of the NHL to finish the 2019-20 season with a 24-team playoff format for the first time in the league's history, I'm here to tell you that the decisions made this weekend are nothing more than door being opened by both the NHL and NHLPA at the possibility of finishing this season. The NHLPA's vote this weekend simply approved the 24-team format that was proposed by the NHL, and nothing more. There are still a myriad of variables that need to be solved before a single, solitary player steps on the ice for a truncated training camp following this three-month hiatus, and no one will be flying to any city anytime soon unless those variables are solved quickly.

With the idea that games would be played out of hub cities, there's a good chance that some players might be away from home for an extended period of time despite some of the teams having home-ice advantage. We've already seen Devyn Dubnyk speak out that he's not in favour of being away from his wife and kids for a possibility of three months, and Tuukka Rask shares in the sentiment that taking families out of the equation for players is non-starter, stating, "It doesn’t feel right to take guys away from their families for many, many months at a time."

I've seen fans on social media rip the players for voicing their choice when it comes to playing or being with family, and I really have to question what kind of monsters these people are who are criticizing the players. These players already miss significant moments in their childrens' and families' lives, and they relish the time between games that they get to spend with their families. To deny the players that time away from the game and with the people they've signed "lifetime contracts" will only have negative effects on their play.

Taking the above humanity out of the game, there are still all sorts of logistics that need to solved before the first puck is dropped.

The NHL has maintained that it will not monopolize testing of any sort for its players and staff while there is a need for public testing. As we've seen and heard from experts all across the United States, there is still a significant shortage for testing in the US yet the NHL is talking about potential hubs cities like Columbus and Las Vegas. Either the NHL becomes part of the problem by going back on its word by obtaining tests for its exclusive use as it said it wouldn't do, or it needs to come up with a solution that effectively ensures the public's safety while ensuring the safety of the players and staff in its hub city or cities.

There needs to be a long list of safety protocols put in place and adhered to so that the "bubble" the NHL creates around their game is watertight. As we saw in San Jose with the Ottawa Senators and Colorado Avalanche players who contracted the COVID-19 virus, it only takes one person to infect many, so how does the NHL control these variables? Without these safety protocols in place, this is really just an exercise in academia.

On top of this, many arenas have taken ice out with the long delay since the last games were played. With that problem being very real, this will force players to other facilities where there's a greater chance of exposure. As Bruce Garrioch wrote on April 3, the Ottawa Senators decided "to take the ice out because the employees and the players have been advised by NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly to stay home until at least April 15," and that ice has yet to return to the Canadian Tire Center in Ottawa. That would force the Senators elsewhere for their camp, and players in the Ottawa area who are not yet cleared to fly back to their teams would also need a place to skate as well.

Did the NHL and NHLPA make progress on possibly concluding the 2019-20 season with the NHLPA's vote to accept the 24-team playoff format? Absolutely. However, we need to keep this progress in check because all the NHLPA did was agree to a potential endgame once every other variable has been hammered out and nailed down.

To put it another way, the NHL and NHLPA agreed to visit Disney World. They have no idea how they're going to get to Orlando and Kissimmee, they haven't booked a hotel, they haven't bought a ticket to visit the park, and they have no itinerary for what they want to see or do assuming they finally do walk through the gates to the "Happiest Place on Earth". Right now, all they have is an idea of how they want this to look.

Yes, we're a step closer than we were last week. However, the devil's in the details as the old saying goes.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!