The hope of seeing National Hockey League teams back on the ice soon took a major blow following the CDC’s recommendation Sunday night.
The National Hockey league had high hopes of getting their teams back on the ice in the next month or so. Those hopes were dampened following the CDC’s recommendation Sunday night.
BREAKING: CDC recommends the cancellation or postponement of all events with 50 people or more for the next 8 weeks https://t.co/Xk5XLLKiNT pic.twitter.com/fJ8JPX0B5t
— Steve Lookner (@lookner) March 15, 2020
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends for the next eight weeks organizers cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States.
Eight weeks from Sunday night would be May 10. That would alter the NHL’s initial gameplan.
NHL teams had been told that it will be at least one full week or perhaps longer before they could reopen facilities for players to do small-group workouts on and off the ice.
The 50-person rule seems to eliminate competition as two teams and coaching staff could possibly exceed these limits.
The NHL regular season is not the only league in jeopardy. The NBA, NFL draft, The Masters, NASCAR, Kentucky Derby, MLS, MLL, NLL, and PLL all will have to alter their seasons and schedule with cancelations or postponements.
The NHL hasn’t made any formal statements since this announcement came out.
The NFL did announce that the NFL draft would not proceed as scheduled as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The 2020 NFL Draft was scheduled from April 23-25, but the league has informed hotels in Las Vegas that the event won’t be taking place there, according to Andy Slater of Fox Sports.
It is not clear at the moment if the draft will be relocated, rescheduled or canceled.
