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NHL extends self-quarantine guidelines once more to April 30

ByMary Clarke|
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - FEBRUARY 05: A close-up of a puck during the game between the New Jersey Devils and the Los Angeles Kings at the Prudential Center on February 05, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. The Kings defeated the Devils 5-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - FEBRUARY 05: A close-up of a puck during the game between the New Jersey Devils and the Los Angeles Kings at the Prudential Center on February 05, 2019 in Newark, New Jersey. The Kings defeated the Devils 5-1. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The NHL has once again extended their self-quarantine guidelines for all players and team staff, but this time it has been pushed back to April 30.

The NHL’s strategy of continuing to take small steps in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic continues, as the league announced on Tuesday that it is pushing back their self-quarantine guidelines once again. Previously, the guidelines had been set for April 15, but the NHL has now moved that deadline to April 30 to close out the month.

This is the third time the self-quarantine deadline has moved due to concerns over coronavirus. Previously, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly had stated that the league was taking small steps to combat this, instead of cancelling things outright.

“As we get closer to the date, we’re going to have to make decisions as to what to do then,” Daly said. “We’re biting this off in chunks.”

Since the NHL paused its season in mid-March, with nearly a month of regular season play and 189 games left on the schedule, there’s been much talk about how the league plans to resume play, if they can.

Previously, expanded playoff formats and playing later into the summer have been the major talking points. In the weeks since the shut down, however, a few more ideas have come to light as potential solutions to this problem. The first is the idea of neutral site games, where states such as New Hampshire or North Dakota would host either some regular season games or playoff series in front of empty arenas.

The second is the idea that the league would shorten the playoffs to a possible best-of-five (with the Stanley Cup going its typical length) as the league finishes the 2019-20 season in late summer, with the 2020-21 season starting in November.

The league is still weeks away from making any major decisions about the season, but it’s clear the NHL will continue to take this situation in small steps as things change by the day.

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