Carolina Hurricanes: Jordan Martinook Offers Thoughts on Return to Play

The Carolina Hurricanes were one of two teams to vote no on 24 team plan.

As the NHL released a memo on the Phase 2 details of practice scenarios, several players including Carolina Hurricanes’ Jordan Martinook offered their thoughts.

As Omar Abdelgawad wrote about, the NHL released a memo breaking down the details of the move to Phase 2 of a hopeful return to play. This memo includes details about small team practices and how factors that range from PPE to sanitation to travel will be managed by the league.

Michael Russo for the Athletic (paywall) spoke to Minnesota Wild netminder and member of the NHL player association board Devan Dubnyk. Russo writes that Dubnyk made an important distinction regarding the 24 team format that has become a big topic of discussion.

““We voted strictly on the format,” Dubnyk said. “In other words, ‘If we are to come back, this is how it’s going to be played.’”

As Pierre LeBrun emphasizes below, the league has not decided to resume play. This is only one decision in a myriad of issues that will have to be voted on by the NHLPA.

Sara Civian’s excellent article (paywall) detailing why the Hurricanes voted no to the 24 team format contains an interview Cane’s alternate captain Jordan Martinook.  Martinook talks about why the Canes said no to the 24 team format, but also reveals a topic that must be on the mind of every player who will return to the game:

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“I have a wife and a small child so I’m in between if I should be bringing them back right away or feel it out, it’s definitely a stressful time, this weekend has been kinda hard on me knowing this decision could be coming right away but it is what it is. That’s still stuff that needs to be talked about and it’s basically personal decisions at this time.””

It’s easy to forget that there is much more at stake here than the completion of the season. Every member of each team is putting themselves and their families at risk to play the game.

There is a larger picture to be seen, and Martinook’s statement reveals that there is a long and hard road ahead for hockey to resume. As the memo reveals, because many players will have to travel back to the US they will each have to serve a 14-day quarantine before they can participate in practice.

I like the approach outlined in the memo that was released today. I appreciate the focused and comprehensive effort that the league is putting into the movement from each phase, and I think that this is the only way that hockey can return in as safe a format as possible.

More details are sure to emerge in the coming weeks as the NHLPA continues to vote on the numerous issues that must be decided upon before play can resume. Hopefully Martinook’s comments will help fans appreciate the enormous weight on the shoulders of NHL players as the decision is made whether the season will return.