The NHL, fresh off a successful attempt to stage a two-month playoff without a single positive test for COVID-19, must now modify that approach as part of a blueprint for the 2020-21 season.
According to industry sources, details like rotational bubbles, a full or condensed schedule and December-January starting dates are up for discussion.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman began canvassing teams during the playoffs, gaining information on each team’s abilities to host modified bubble situations once the season opens.
The initial startup date of Dec. 1 was earmarked last June in a memorandum of understanding, agreed upon by the league and the NHL Players’ Association, that laid out a new CBA and protocols for the return of hockey. That date is now considered loose, and will almost certainly be pushed back into mid-December or later.
While neither the league nor its players union have set any hard targets, it is believed a potential deadline for an 82-game season would be Dec. 15. But other potential scenarios see the league opening Jan. 1 and wrapping up by July 1. That would give the league 181 days to complete its normal 82-game schedule.
The target by both sides is to play as many games as possible, an ideal situation that would help owners avoid more than a billion dollars in losses wrought by the schedule pause last March.
A July 1 finish would also accommodate NBC, the prime carrier in the United States The network is scheduled to broadcast the Tokyo Olympics next July.
The NHLPA is scheduled to form a committee as early as next week, which will begin dialogue on protocols and logistics regarding the startup of the new season. While NHLPA executive director Don Fehr said the recently completed two-month bubble will not happen again, it appears some form of hybrid bubble must be created in order to play a full schedule during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The league must also consider the return of fans and what arenas are best suited to host them. The league would have to adhere to any local COVID-19 protocols, but its goal is to restore the game and controlled gatherings of fans to several arenas for next season.
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist based at Toronto General Hospital, will continue in his role as a consultant to the NHLPA and feels some of these targets, if not all, can be achieved.
“Some form of bubble or a modified bubble would be the way to do it. It promotes incremental safety by keeping everyone under one roof,” Bogoch said.
“I don’t think we’ll see everyone under one roof at the same time, like it was in the playoffs. We’ll probably see a hybrid bubble solution, where all the protocols are implemented so that it can promote incremental safety … It can be done.”
Bogoch said the release of a vaccine would affect the number of games played and the return of fans to arenas. While several countries are reporting vaccines in the testing phase, a fully tested and effective one may not be ready until April, according to an industry source.
Hockey would also likely borrow on baseball’s success. MLB overcome numerous positive tests in the initial days of its return to being almost completely COVID-free over the past few months. The league had all its teams play out of their home cities except for the Blue Jays, who were forced to play home games in Buffalo due to border restrictions.
Baseball is also holding playoff games in member cities for its wild-card rounds before moving to a bubblelike scenario in Texas and California for its division series, championship series and World Series.
“It became clear that if they didn’t rein it in, they were putting themselves and their teammates in danger,” Bogoch said of the baseball’s marked improvement in test results. “So that requires a collective buy in (by players and staff) … if people were cavalier about it, it would jeopardize the success of the team.”
How NHL players and staff get in and out of rotational bubbles has not been determined, but when the league allowed newly arriving staff into the Edmonton bubble it required each individual to produce three negative tests before entry.
Once in the bubble, all players and staff underwent frequent diagnostic testing. The NHL conducted more than 33,000 tests during its two-month playoffs, and it is expected that model will be key to testing protocols for next season.
But it didn’t come cheap. The NHL’s overall cost for COVID-19 prevention was believed to be about $75 million.
As for bubble locations for the new season, upcoming discussions at the league and NHLPA level are expected to look into arenas with hotels attached and cities where fans are being allowed into sporting and other events in controlled numbers.
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Cross border travel between Canada and the U.S. remains in a restricted state, which has led to the idea of an all-Canadian division and teams in the U.S. placed into divisions based on city proximities.
Bogoch said the safety of everyone involved should be of utmost importance however the season plays out.
“I appreciate that there are lots of considerations and angles to be discussed, but what I think is central is public safety, player safety and ethics,” Bogoch said. “How we can do this in a safe manner for everyone, and conduct it in an ethical manner, will determine how well it will work.”
