Avalanche Roundtable: NHL is nearing a return, but should it?

The reality of sports returning is beginning to creep up on us a little more every day. While the NBA has publicly talked about their…let’s call it “adventurous” plan to return with regular season games and the entire league hanging out in Orlando, the MLB continues to fight over money as they try to win the PR war and the pandemic.

This leaves the NHL, whose union has gone to war the hardest in the last 15 years among the big four team sports. Somewhat incredibly, that doesn’t seem to be the case as each league has faced unprecedented uncertainty in how to return to play in a way that obviously serves business interests and player health.

As more details begin to slowly emerge and we await official announcements of dates and cities, this brings us to today’s topic: Okay. The league has found a way to come back and made all of the hard protocol decisions and host city designations. Great. Now comes the moral question: Should they return?

AJ: Players need to do all of their proper homework and educate themselves as much as possible to make an informed decision. The league has obvious reasons to return and if players can honestly say they’re comfortable coming back and playing for the Stanley Cup as it appears COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere, then that’s their decision to make.

Having the host cities just be in Canada would be smart business. Vegas has a perfect infrastructure for it but cases are on a sharp rise in Nevada and I don’t see why the league would even bother taking a chance. The NBA’s early commitment to Orlando has thrown a massive wrench into the whole process because Florida is one of the hotspots of COVID-19 cases as the state opened itself up very quickly after only a brief shutdown. The NHL has the opportunity to just remove the entire dynamic presented in the United States where approaching this virus has turned into a political issue as much as a public safety one.

Utilize Canada, put the hub cities up there, create an avenue for players to decide on their own if they want to return or not and go from there. If outbreaks pop up everywhere as teams are in the bubbles, you just shut it down and move on. I definitely think they’ll try, though, and as long as the players are understanding of the risks involved, I’m all for it.

Evan: I believe they can and should return if it’s safe to do so, but I’m not sure Vegas, where they seem dead set on locating teams, is the best spot for it. This whole situation is tricky and we don’t know the half of what goes into decisions like this, but given how COVID-19 seems to be coming back in specific areas in the U.S, including Vegas, I wonder if they aren’t better off just putting everything up in Canada. Seeing these positive tests return is worrisome for the return to play, and quite frankly, it has me skeptical that all the players are going to be comfortable coming back, which would throw a wrench in everything.

Overall I think it can be done, and the population being desperate for an escape makes me think it’s definitely happening, but for me, it will feel a little weird and I’ll almost be waiting for the other shoe to drop even if it does look like everything is going to be okay.

Rudo: As long as players are given the opportunity to make their own decisions such as not returning to play if they feel unsafe or don’t want to and not be punished for doing so. I believe they should return, with the massive caveat of if they can do so safely. At this point, multiple different sports have returned around the world and have done so successfully (admittedly many of those not in the United States). The next few weeks are critical in getting everything in line. Over the past week, we’ve seen more than a few players test positive for COVID-19, which simply cannot be the case once teams arrive in their hub cities. Once phase three hits, a single-player testing positive could completely derail an entire team’s return and in phase four it could result in the cancellation of the season. Both the league and the players need to understand the gravity of the situation and adhere strictly to the protocols put in place. To call it risk-free would just be a flat out lie but if the players want to play I say let them.