NHL Phase 2 begins with the Oilers the only team to start on Monday
By Elias Laradi
It was a quiet first day of the NHL’s Phase 2, with only the Edmonton Oilers deciding to skate.
Monday was the official launch of the NHL phase 2 in the return to play. Not many teams skated on day 1 aside from the Edmonton Oilers. Remember, phase 2 is not a mandatory phase for players to return to their club cities.
With a lot of players scattered across the globe whether in Canada, the US, or even Europe for that matter many players have decided to stay where they are until phase 3 which would be the mandatory training camp.
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The issue being for most players the Canada/US border which has been closed for non-essential travel and also not to mention the 14 quarantine period mandated by the government.
Five players took to the ice at Rogers Arena in Edmonton and those players were Kris Russell, Matt Benning, and Alex Chiasson. Joining them were AHLers Tyler Benson and goaltender Stuart Skinner.
The NHL released a 22-page guideline on phase 2 and here are some of the highlights from that long document. First of all, players who wanted to take part in phase 2 needed to pass a pre-participation medical which included a test for the Coronavirus. This also included temperature checks before even entering the building which will be done on a daily basis.
The players will also have to social distance while in the dressing room, wear a face covering when not on the ice and were even told to sing Happy Birthday twice while washing their hands each time.
Montreal will open its facility on Thursday as the practice facility in Brossard was still being prepared and should be ready to go on Thursday. Toronto was also open today but not many players are in town.
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The mandatory phase 3 training camp is estimated to begin around mid-July. This is once again another vital step to try and get the action going by August but once again there are a lot of steps before we can get to playing games.