In Wake of COVID-19 Outbreak, Hockey Season is Put on Hold

By: Ryan Kelsey

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has hit the United States and has put what seems to be life on hold, the American Hockey League and the National Hockey League have both decided to suspend play until further notice.

According to the American Hockey League website, the AHL has informed its clubs that game play will not continue before May. The AHL website also announced that the league is recommending that players relocate back to their primary households.  

On March 15, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended against large gatherings (50-people or more) for a period of eight weeks. Consequently, this left the AHL and the NHL in a position where they needed to delay the season in order to put the players, officials, staff, and fans health and safety first.

Although it remains unknown if the hockey season will start back up again, the NHL website announced that assuming events are progressing positively and there are no setbacks, the NHL hopes to be able to begin reopening club training camps roughly 45 days into the eight week social distancing period.

As of now, there have been four NHL players who have tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Two of these four players are on the Ottawa Senators, and had experienced mild symptoms. Meanwhile, a player on the Colorado Avalanche had also tested positive, and on March 28, the Avalanche announced that another player on the team had tested positive for the virus as well. The first player from the Avalanche has recovered from the symptoms and the other players with the virus remain at home in isolation according to the NHL website. The names of these players have not been identified.

The NHL has instructed players from around the league to self-quarantine until April 4 unless they need to self-quarantine for a longer period of time based on their recent travel. Although the NHL has instructed players to self-quarantine, the NHL and their medical staff is not requiring players to get tested for this virus based on the fact that there are not enough testing kits, and that other health professionals are not recommending testing. At the end of the self-quarantine period the NHL will consider opening Club facilities to small groups of players for voluntary training and care if there are no new updates in regards to the COVID-19 virus. 

As of now the decision has not been made in regards to whether or not the regular season will continue, but the decision has been made that the 2020 Draft and Combine will be postponed with details coming out at a later date. Both players and fans however can be assured that if the NHL season does resume and if the playoffs extend to the mid to late summer, the 2020-2021 season will not be impacted. 

Despite the uncertainty that surrounds both the NHL and AHL, players and fans will have to sit tight and be patient until more updates are released.