Safety, Sacrifice Top of Mind for Preds as Return To Play Nears

If all goes according to plan, in 10 days the Predators will walk off a plane in Edmonton, Alberta, the site of the NHL's Western Conference Hub City for Phase 4 of their Return To Play Plan.

Once there, the hope is the "secure zone" in and around Rogers Place, the site where the Preds will face the Arizona Coyotes in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifier Round, will be one of the safest places on the continent when it comes to preventing the spread of COVID-19.

The protocols are extensive, and no detail has been overlooked when it comes to keeping players, coaches, team staff and anyone with access safe.

In the meantime, the Preds know they have to do their part in order to be able to get on that aircraft.

That means heading to Bridgestone Arena to participate in Preds Training Camp Presented by Vanderbilt Health, and then going right back home and staying there as much as possible. It means players wearing masks and social distancing anytime they're not on the ice or working out in the gym. And it means taking an extra moment to think about safety precautions they've never had to deal with before when visiting their most familiar environment.

[View photo gallery from July 15 Training Camp Session]

"As everyone should be on the outside wearing masks, we're doing it all - except for obviously on the ice and in the gym where it's not possible," Preds Associate Captain Ryan Ellis said. "We're wearing masks, we're social distancing, lockers are spaced out, there's protocols in place to keep us safe and we're trying to do everything we can to follow them."

"You take your temperature at home two hours before you get to the rink, you fill out a questionnaire about how you're feeling that day, then you come to the rink and you're getting tested every day," Preds Captain Roman Josi said of the daily routine. "You go to the locker room, and then you pretty much wear your mask everywhere except if you're working out or you're on the ice. You're wearing a mask, and then everything you touch you pretty much sanitize after in the gym and everywhere."

The added steps come out of necessity, and the extensive deep cleans of Bridgestone Arena, combined with the extra efforts from players, coaches and staff make Nashville's home rink as sterile as it's ever been.

"We come to the Bridgestone Arena, and you could eat off the floors," goaltender Pekka Rinne joked. "It's clean, and it's a safe place… Now it's just buckling down, staying in the bubble and playing hockey. I'm just happy that we're back at that situation."

Once the Preds depart the facility, they know it's up to them to do their part, too. As the leader of the club, Josi has talked about what's expected of every individual in order to stay safe until arriving in Edmonton.

"As a team, our message was just to stay home as much as we can, and just be careful," Josi said. "We're all wearing masks around the rink. You're definitely wearing a mask when you leave the rink, and there's a lot of responsibility on each guy. There's a lot of trust in our team that everybody's going to do the right thing."

While health and safety are top of mind right now, the sacrifice players will have to make - being away from family for an extended period, which has already begun for some - is a topic that isn't pleasant to imagine.

However, hockey players know this time of the year doesn't come without some sort of sacrifice with time spent away from family and friends. While it arrives on a much larger scale this time around, it can still be used as an additional motivating factor when the puck drops for Game 1.

"We're in this spot, and we're sacrificing something, so now when I'm here and [my family is] back in Sweden, I can't really be with them," Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. "I'm trying to make the most of it, and I think every one of us that are here, I guess most of the guys don't have their families here, and we're sacrificing the summer for it.

"We're here to do something. We're not here to get knocked out early. We want to go as far as we can, as deep as we can. I feel like that's even more motivation for me doing it for my family that's back home right now."