FEATURE: Bringing Hockey Back

EDMONTON, AB - As the cornerstone of the Edmonton Oilers franchise and face of the National Hockey League, Connor McDavid had much to consider while serving as a member of the Return To Play Committee.
McDavid, alongside several NHL executives and Players' Association members, helped outline the League's
Return To Play Plan
, creating a four-phase process that will lead to, hopefully, awarding a rightful 2020 Stanley Cup champion in late summer.
Restarting NHL hockey amid a global pandemic is a challenge requiring logistics for any and every possibility that could arise down the road. As McDavid expressed on Thursday during a video call, it took a selfless attitude - a "step back" - by all those involved to take a step forward.

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"You need to take a step back and look at it unselfishly," the Oilers Captain said. "Do what's best for the League and try to keep 31 teams happy and 700 players.
"Ultimately, that's what I think all five guys did."
Player representatives of the Committee included Ottawa Senators defenceman Ron Hainsey, Winnipeg Jets centre Mark Scheifele, Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares and Philadelphia Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk.
As skaters are wont to do during the season with their club, the player reps took yet another team-first approach - the 'team' being the League in this sense - to create the new competitive format, regardless of whether it benefited their own club or not.
"Ottawa doesn't play again this season, I'm sure that couldn't have been easy (for Hainsey)," McDavid said. "Lots of guys had to make sacrifices and the Oilers were part of that. We had a good season and put ourselves in a good spot but we still got to play in the Play-In Round and that's the way it goes.
"It's best for the League and guys understood that."

Critics of the competitive format find the 24-team inclusion problematic because squads like the Montreal Canadiens and Chicago Blackhawks - who the Oilers will face in a
best-of-five Qualifying Round series
should the NHL resume - weren't in playoff positions at the time of the pause.
McDavid understood the sentiment but emphasized the collective approach for the new setup, which he believes honours the NHL's competitive integrity.
"I think the integrity of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is still going to be intact," he said. "Let's say a team like Montreal beats Pittsburgh and goes on to win the Stanley Cup. I think they're a very deserving team if they're going to win five rounds and go through some really good teams.
"There's never going to be a perfect scenario, there's never going to be a perfect format. It seems to work for most teams and we just need to live by that."
Darnell Nurse, who serves as the Oilers player representative at League meetings and had a role in relaying Return To Play messages to his teammates, believes the Committee found an arrangement that works for all involved - even the Orange & Blue, who have not yet reserved a spot in the First Round of the competitive format.
"From the standpoint of us voting, we ran like a true democracy," the blueliner said. "Our vote is just a picture of what our team believes in.
"There's no perfect situation here. We want to play and I think we showed that. No matter what position you're in, you got to win every series to get that ultimate goal. We could sit here, complain and hope for a different format but at the end of the day, the Return To Play Committee put together a good format. They worked hard on it and if we have to play an extra series, we're OK with that."

With the format out of the way, the health and safety strategy is next on the agenda.
"The safety of the players and of everyone involved is paramount," McDavid, who finished second in League scoring with 97 points behind Leon Draisaitl's 110, said.
"That's the main issue that's got to get solved now and answered before anything happens and we move forward. The first step was putting the format together and now we got to connect the dots and put answers to those types of questions."
Nurse expressed support for the extensive testing players will be subjected to when action resumes. It's safety first for the one they call
'Doc.'
"Testing is big," said the defender. "If that's what the professionals who are in this field and tackle these challenges each and every day, if they believe that's the best option, then that's the way to go."
With the first step towards hockey's resumption laid out, several other factors will dictate the game's return. But for now, there is a concrete plan to bring hockey back.
"We're one of those teams that was kind of on the bubble of being in the top four or being in the Play-In," McDavid said.
"We'll do what we have to do, play this Play-In and get the job done and hopefully move on to an exciting playoffs."