Coronavirus pandemic puts Stars' season, rest of NHL on hold

The NHL on Thursday
announced it will pause games and activities
to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, and the Stars said they will take all precautions to ensure safety for employees and fans.
Because of the uncertainty of the impact of the virus, much of the plans going forward will be made on a day-to-day basis, but there will be no practices and players are being advised to stay in the area and stay at home.
"We're going to get more information and then see what is the best path in the coming days, but this is the best decision for us right now," said general manager Jim Nill. "We want to be as safe as we can be."

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The Stars do not believe any players or any employees have been infected by the coronavirus, but they have not done testing yet. Winger Alexander Radulov
was out with illness
recently, but has started skating and appears to be over whatever his sickness was. Nill said they would like to test Radulov to make sure, but that he appears to have been dealing with a different illness.
"He appears to be recovered, but we'd still like to get him tested," Nill said. "It's one of those things where we'll move forward and do the smart thing."
Nill said the limited availability of testing kits for COVID-19 makes it difficult to do testing, and said he has not been informed of any players having any symptoms. That said, by limiting contact and allowing time apart, he said the league believes they can react intelligently.
"I think the league, and all of us really, are listening to the medical community and following their advice," Nill said. "That's the best thing we can do right now."

The league in its press release said:
"The NHL has been attempting to follow the mandates of health experts and local authorities, while preparing for any possible developments without taking premature or unnecessary measures. However, following last night's news that an NBA player has tested positive for coronavirus -- and given that our leagues share so many facilities and locker rooms and it now seems likely that some member of the NHL community would test positive at some point -- it is no longer appropriate to try to continue to play games at this time."
Many leagues and businesses have also suspended or paused their activities -- from the NBA to MLB to Broadway and Disney. The NHL said Thursday it would like to find a way to compete for the Stanley Cup this season if possible.
"We will continue to monitor all the appropriate medical advice, and we will encourage our players and other members of the NHL community to take all reasonable precautions - including by self-quarantine, where appropriate," the league said in a statement. "Our goal is to resume play as soon as it is appropriate and prudent, so that we will be able to complete the season and award the Stanley Cup. Until then, we thank NHL fans for your patience and hope you stay healthy."
Stars president Brad Alberts said he's not sure how the league will move forward, but that he sensed a desire to get back to play at some point.
"How that looks, whether you're finishing the regular season or not, I don't know. I think that's what the league and leagues are going to have to figure out," he said. "We're hoping that we can restart in a month or so, but again, that's fluid."
The team has set up contingency plans for tickets and is asking ticket buyers to contact their Stars representative or the agency through which they purchased tickets. Because the schedule could change, there will have to be some patience necessary in finding answers to all of the questions. Alberts said that in terms of financial impact, the NHL and the Stars should be able to sustain a break.
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"If we come back in a month or so after a short pause, the teams will be OK," Alberts said. "If you lose the entire season, that's a different story, and that will need to be analyzed and we can talk about that if that becomes a possibility. Hopefully, that's not the case."
Nill said the team will formulate a plan for returning when the time is appropriate, but said he would anticipate players would be ready to return if that option was presented.
"These guys train all year 'round, so we would expect them to be ready," he said. "They know how to stay in shape, and they know the importance of being ready, so I don't see that as a problem."
Alberts said the best thing all team employees can do is take care of themselves and help prevent the coronavirus from spreading. That's one of the reasons to take these actions.
"The most important thing for all of us in the short term is to try to stay healthy," Alberts said. "None of us can control when games are going to be played again or the business, that's out of our hands. But the one thing we can try to control right now is to not spread the virus and not get sick."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.