The NHL has set a date for the kickoff of the playoffs, which is July 30. Of course, that date actually coming to fruition and anything that has been planned actually occurring all depends on the virus, which let everyone know Friday that it and not anything else is in charge. Time will tell, but as of now, despite the 11 positive cases from the 200 tests conducted, including three for the Lightning as well as Austin Matthews, nothing has changed in terms of the future game plan.
HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL, INCLUDING MY DAD
The Post has learned that the Stanley Cup tournament’s qualifying rounds are scheduled to begin on July 30 in hub cities that will be selected “within the next week or so,” according to a directive sent to NHL clubs Friday following its general managers meeting.
Training camp, that had been previously scheduled to commence on July 10, will last approximately two weeks, with clubs scheduled to travel to their respective assigned location on either July 23 or 24. Teams will play one exhibition match before going into the best-of-five qualifiers and the top-four seeding round-robins. The Rangers will face Carolina while the Islanders meet Florida.
Training camp rosters will be set at 30 skaters and an unlimited number of goaltenders. Rosters for the tournament will be comprised of 28 skaters plus an unlimited number of netminders. Players on IR will not count against the limit.
According to the directive, testing for the coronavirus will be done “every other day for all people entering the facility.” It is unclear at this point whether the media will be granted access.
Pierre LeBrun noted the following today: "My understanding is that the NHL has cut the list of Hub cities to six teams from the original 10. The list still includes all three Canadian cities. My sense is Vancouver and Edmonton rank ahead of Toronto. Obviously Vegas remains in the mix." Earlier in the week, the NBA came out with their plans for the bubble-like atmosphere in Orlando. We all expect the NHL to follow a similar model, meaning that whichever locations are expected, amenities akin to Orlando will need to be available and in place along with the same type of monitoring. Basketball has the smart rings that each player will wear to track key metrics including temperature. As Gary Bettman started in the NBA and based on what we saw in the protocol developed for Phase 2, look for the NHL to follow the same model.
The hope/expectation is for the NHL/NHLPA to agree on the 2 hub cities by the end of this upcoming week. Time is of the essence, the league needs to negotiate deals with both hub cities (hotels, etc) once selected
Colin Stephenson, in Saturday's Newsday, wrote that: "with Phase 3 of the NHL’s return to play plan — training camps — set to open July 10, the Rangers’ European players are making plans to return to New York next week." This date aligns with what was reported last week, so that players are ready for the start of training camp, even if they need to be quarantined after arriving in the US from whichever country. Players will be tested for the coronavirus when they arrive in New York and then tested again a week later. If both tests are negative, then the player should be cleared to practice, allowing them to hit the ground running for conditioning and camp.
After the NHL paused its season because of the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12, players were allowed to leave their team’s home cities to go home, or wherever they chose to spend the duration of the shutdown. Most of the Rangers’ European players returned to Europe, with Artemi Panarin and Igor Shesterkin the only ones choosing to stay in the U.S. Panarin stayed in the area, and is now skating and working out at the Rangers’ practice facility in Greenburgh, N.Y., as part of the NHL’s voluntary small group training (which right now consists of seven skaters, Brendan Smith, Brendan Lemieux, Chris Kreider, Marc Staal, Adam Fox, Phillip Di Giuseppe and Panarin). Shesterkin reportedly is in Florida (with no set date for arriving in New York).
Forward Pavel Buchnevich, who has been spending the NHL pause in Russia, is planning to return to New York on Sunday, according to his agent. The other players who have been in Europe — Henrik Lundqvist, Mika Zibanejad and Jesper Fast in Sweden, Kaapo Kakko and Alexandar Georgiev in Finland, and Filip Chytil in the Czech Republic — will likely follow.
John Davidson conducted a 1:1 with John Giannone for season ticket holders on Friday. In that meeting, he discussed a variety of topics including K'Andre Miller, the goaltending situation in the play-in round, Kakko, who has been tested and can suit up against the Hurricanes, though that decision will be up up to him, Kreider, back to 100% health, Lias Andersson, Fox, who JD compared to Sergei Zubov, Vitali Kratsov, who will be in camp when play resumes, and more. The full one-hour interview is posted below.
As JD noted, CK20 is 100%. This post is mainly for TPC but confirms what we all expected. Having a healthy Kreider is a huge boost for the team's chances against Carolina and could restore the first line back to the KZB trio that existed prior to his injury.
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