Reaves of Golden Knights expects extra intensity in Cup Qualifiers

The Stanley Cup will come at a uniquely high price in 2020.

There were hints of just how high in a media conference call with Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves on Tuesday.

Reaves, who signed a two-year, $3.5 million contract extension with Vegas on Monday, spoke about the strict health precautions already being taken, the intensity he expects in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers and the potential sacrifice of living in a bubble.

The NHL paused the season March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. It allowed voluntary, limited small-group workouts at team facilities starting June 8 in Phase 2 of the Return to Play Plan.

"To be honest, I feel a little, like, too safe," Reaves said.

Too safe?

Well, consider that in the NHL, grown men play a kids' game. In normal times, a locker room is like a clubhouse. Reaves said as a player, you're used to coming to the rink and seeing 25 guys, messing around in the training room, hopping in the hot tub together.

Now, you're tested twice a week for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. You've got to wear a mask walking in. At least at City National Arena, the Golden Knights' practice rink, you change in different dressing rooms for social distancing. Only six players are allowed on the ice at a time. The training staff makes sure everything is sanitary.

In other words, everyone is erring on the side of caution.

"You can just sense that there's a lot of rules and a lot of tension around what's going on," Reaves said. "I wouldn't say there's tension in the dressing room, but just the situation. There's a little tension with the situation. I feel safe. I feel overly safe, to be honest. But that's just the rules the NHL put in place."

Provided health and safety conditions allow and the NHL and NHL Players' Association reach an agreement on resuming play, training camps will open July 10 in Phase 3 of the Return to Play Plan.

Play will resume in Phase 4, with the dates and the locations of two hub cities -- one for 12 Eastern Conference teams, one for 12 Western teams - to be announced. The top four teams in each conference will play a three-game round robin for seeding, and the other teams will play best-of-5 series to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Even after the layoff -- partly because of the layoff, if you listen to Reaves -- there will be no easing back in.

"This is definitely not going to be like exhibition games," Reaves said.

Teams won't be experimenting with prospects. They will have unusually healthy, rested NHL players jumping straight into a 24-team tournament for the Stanley Cup. The Golden Knights, third in the West with a .606 points percentage, will play their round robin against the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars.

There will be no fans in the stands, but at least on the ice, Reaves said he expects a playoff atmosphere from the first puck drop.

"You're sitting at home for creeping up on 4½ months, training, trying to stay ready for this," he said. "Do you want to waste that four months for three games or five games? No. You're going to battle your [butt] off to try and make the playoffs for those teams, and we want to be the highest seed team so we can play the lowest seed coming into the [Western Conference First Round]. So I expect it to be absolute wars out there."

The NHL and the NHLPA are still discussing the protocols for Phases 3 and 4. But NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman told ESPN on Monday that they would be "very strict" for the resumption of play. If the players are separated from their families for any length of time, it will be hard on the players themselves, but Reaves said it would be harder on their families.

Reaves has a wife and two kids. They could go from having him home every day for more than four months to not having him home for two months. Reaves has been working out in the garage with his 4-year-old son, then splashing in the pool and playing video games with him. To go all the way, he might have to be away.

"It is what it is," Reaves said. "There's a lot of crazy stuff going on in the world. There's people a lot worse off than we are. It'll [be hard] being away from the family if that's what it comes to, but that's just the reality of it, and that's just what you're going to have to do to chase the Cup."