Couturier Concerned About How NHL Will Handle COVID-19 Testing
Philadelphia Flyers forward Sean Couturier wonders what happens if several NHL players test positive for COVID-19 during the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs.
Hockey players are required to pass many tests before they are solidified in their role as NHL regulars.
A new test will be put in front of the world’s best hockey players this summer, and Sean Couturier would like to know exactly how these tests will be administered, as well as how the outcomes from those tests will be dealt with by the NHL.
We’re talking about COVID-19 testing.
As the NHL moved toward Phase Three of its Return To Play plan – training camps are supposed to open July 10 – Philadelphia Flyers forward Couturier still thinks there’s plenty to be ironed out.
Regular coronavirus testing will be part of the NHL’s plan. In an interview with TSN, Couturier acknowledged that players remain uncertain regarding how the details will be handled in terms of the testing, and what the ramifications will be for teams and for upcoming games should there be a rash of positive tests incurred by a team or teams.
“I think there’s still a lot of questions going around,” Couturier told TSN’s Mark Masters. “My main worry is down the road. You’re going into Game 6, Game 7 (of a playoff series). You’re facing elimination.
“(What if Flyers stars) Claude Giroux and Jake Voracek test positive and they can’t play that night? If they had just the regular flu, they’d probably play through it no matter what.
“Now this guy is maybe asymptomatic, or I don’t know, (has) just a dry cough. You can’t let him play. It can impact a series, or the Stanley Cup winner. It’s going to be interesting to see how they decide what’s going to happen if you test positive?”
Will Playoff Series Be Paused By COVID-19?
Based on what he’s learned about COVID-19, and with players existing in close quarters inside the dressing room, Couturier anticipates that should one positive test emerge on a team, more would soon follow.
At that point, in the midst of a playoff series, what does the NHL do?
Will the league treat the coronavirus as just another injury a team must deal with and overcome en route to trying to win the Stanley Cup? Will that player’s team and the opposing team be forced into quarantine for 14 days?
“It’s one of those things where we’re all chasing a dream,” Couturier said. “Now you test positive and are not able to participate in those games, I think it would be kind of frustrating. So I think that’s one big question that needs to be resolved before we even get going.
“If this thing is as bad as they say, if it’s that contagious, there shouldn’t be just one. There’s going to be four or five cases at once. You don’t want to see four or five of your key players out of the lineup going into Game 7. If it happened on both teams, I really don’t know if fans want to see all these star players not playing because of a virus.”
Under normal circumstances, illness is something that a player would seek to battle through during postseason play. That won’t be permitted with coronavirus.
Making matters more complicated, it will be an independent entity that will be making the calls regarding positive tests, and athletes don’t like it when they are removed from decisions that involve what risks they can endure with their own bodies at playoff time.
“Usually if it’s the flu, you’ll see some guys almost puke between periods,” Couturier said. “Guys usually do whatever they can to play.
“To be decided by someone else that you’re not playing, it’s going to be interesting to see how guys react.”
Empty Rinks Won’t Bother Him
Even without fans in the seats, Flyers forward Sean Couturier thinks there are other advantages to being the home team that are still vital to playoff success.
Photo: Pens Through My Lens/Wikimedia
Author of 86 goals for Philly over the past three seasons, Couturier is much less concerned that he won’t hear the roar of the crowd when he or one of his Flyers teammates lights the lamp come playoff time.
“It’s going to be interesting for sure,” Couturier said. “I think once we get started and once emotions – once you get dialed in and play for the Stanley Cup, at the end of the day, once you’re in a battle, or going one-on-one, I don’t think you hear the fans or really think about them.
“I don’t think it’s going to be as bad as people think.”
The Flyers are one of eight NHL teams that won’t be involved in the opening playoff elimination round. Instead, Philly will be playing a round-robin series with the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Washington Capitals to determine to seed for the second round of postseason play.
While some might view these as nothing more than glorified tune-up games, Couturier approaches them with a much different mindset.
“Down the road, you want to have the home-ice advantage so to speak, or in these circumstances the last change,” he said. “It’s a huge part of the game if you can control the matchups and the tempo of the game. It can definitely help us down the road.
“So I think those three games are going to be really important.”
There is a school of thought that the teams involved in the elimination round will hold an edge over the eight teams already assured of second-round play, since they’ll have already played hockey at playoff intensity and in some cases, likely faced and overcame elimination from the postseason, and that in the Vegas betting odds, they might be worth a play as an underdog wager.
In this instance, Couturier admitted there could be an edge for these teams, albeit a brief one.
“I think maybe the intensity, or should I say the emotional part of the game might be a little bit to the advantage of the team that plays that elimination series,” Couturier said. “But at the same time, if you win in three, or you have a little break, it’s going to be interesting to see what happens.
“No matter what, I think it’s going to come down to whoever is the most prepared, the readiest to go. There might be a one-game adaptation or a few periods. But I think down the road it can help us as well.
“It goes both ways, I think.”
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