The NHL is advising players on what to do during the league’s hiatus. Players are instructed to stay in their team’s cities if possible.
The NHL, along with the NHLPA, announced the newly formed standards giving players the opportunity to get back on the ice for informal workouts as the league works its way through the pandemic coronavirus.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly released a statement Friday morning.
Players are expected to remain in their team’s home city, but should their families be located elsewhere, the player would be allowed to travel to them during the initial pause portion.
Also, the league says it will not test players for coronavirus unless they begin showing symptoms of the deadly virus.
The key element of this statement is that for the time being, the league is not recommending informal skates during the initial phase of the pause. When the time comes to prepare for the resumption of games, players will then be allowed to skate.
On Thursday, the NHL followed suit with other professional sports organizations and suspended the season for the foreseeable future.
“I decided it was time to get ahead of it and not wait for one of our players to get tested, because in all likelihood, at some point in time, we weren’t going to get through the rest of the season without a player testing positive,” commissioner Gary Bettman said via NHL.com.
Procedures continue to change by the hour as the sports world continues to deal with the COVID-19 team by team.