Nobody really knows when or if the NHL season will resume, or what it will look like when it does.
Torey Krug doesn’t have an answer as to what the NHL should do, but he does have some feelings on what needs to be considered. In short, he wants the playing field to be fair, and for the integrity to remain in the game.
“With so many different unknowns, it’s tough to understand what our circumstances will be and what will be available to us — whether that’s back to normal buildings with fans involved or empty arenas or one of the things being tossed around would be neutral sites where teams gather and play in that regard,” Krug said Tuesday on a conference call with the media. “For me, I think it’s just a fairness thing, as long as everyone’s in a situation where the playing field is level and we’re all able to complete for a Stanley Cup, that’s our ultimate goal. I don’t know how it’s going to play out, I think none of us will, it’s almost a great opportunity to get creative and see what we can come up with.
“But in terms of restoring the integrity of the game,” Krug continued, “You’ve got to make sure that we’re not doing anything crazy and that we can look back on it and want to hang our hats on and be proud of what we were able to do under these circumstances, but the integrity of the game is extremely important to not only I know the league, but also the players, it’s something that we’ve discussed as well. We want to make sure it’s fair and that it resembles something close to what we’ve had in the rich history of this game. So, I don’t know what I would recommend, but I just hope that we can get back and playing and have an opportunity to win a Cup because this group that we have here in Boston is special, and I think there’s a lot of other teams around the league that feel the same way.”
Krug’s remarks come just days after reports that Grand Forks, North Dakota, and Manchester, New Hampshire, were being kicked around as potential neutral site locations for NHL games.
Of course, getting the COVID-19 pandemic under control is of chief importance, far more so than getting sports back up and running. However, sports leagues understandably are thinking of plans for when the time comes that it’s safe to return.