Sportsnet reported the NHL is considering this. Any idea is a possibility at this time but there are a lot of obstacles. Even though North Dakota has “The Ralph” and it probably has zero activities planned for the near future there are some lingering questions.
- Even the smallest county in North Dakota has a positive test for the virus. This happened a few days ago. So player safety is a big concern even if they all test positive.
- I like the all in one location but again, North Dakota isn’t flush with a lot of hotels so the same hotels that housed the World Junior Championship and the U18s would be in play. Good for them but I would imagine you would have to give the teams floors 1-3 for a given hotel, as an example. Rock stars buy out floors, and sometimes just request them, to stay away from others, the teams and the hotel will have to ensure the same.
- Is it worth having every team finish out their season when there won’t be a home gate or any gate, it will be played in an empty arena, I would think? So this tournament can only include playoff teams and teams that were close as I’ve suggested before on air.
- Players have to get back in shape. Most aren’t skating. It would take a few weeks and let’s say it happens there, this would all start in July would be my guess with the tournament starting August 1st as a guess.
- Any hope for an NHL season is a hope. All players would need continuous testing for the players and staff and personnel required to be there. it may have to be daily testing and since that’s not a possibility yet in real life that has to change. I would hope credentialed media would have postgame Skype interview sessions so we can all go back to work full time as well. Let’s see how this progresses.
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