FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2020| THEGLOBEANDMAILO B11
TheCapitals’AlexOvechkinandthePenguins’SidneyCrosby,seenduringa2018playoffgame,bothtookpart
inNHL-organizedteleconferencecallsonThursday,thefirstsincetheleaguewentdarkonMarch12.SeveralNHLersspoke
outabouttheCOVID-19pandemic.‘Youjusttrytomakethebestofwhatyou’vegot,’Crosbysaid.‘Youhavetothink
aboutpeople,yourfamilyandthefans,’Ovechkinadded.MartyKlinkenberghasthestory B15‘It’saprettycrazytime’
GENEJ.PUSKAR/THEASSOCIATEDPRESSSPORTS
Inanall-ExposStrat-O-Maticshowdown
betweentwoteamswhoseseasonswere
shortenedbystrikes,the1994squadcame
outswinging,BradWheelerwrites B13[PHOTO OF THEDAY]L
ike the rest of us, Brendan
Shanahan has pretty much
had his life turned upside
down. The president and alter-
nate governor of the Maple Leafs
is working remotely from home
in Toronto while he is surround-
ed by his family.
“There is no such thing as a
typical 24 hours, and 23 of those
24 are at home,” Shanahan said
by telephone Thursday after-
noon. “What is happening to me
is what is happening to each of us.
Today is much different than a
week ago.”
A week ago, fewer people were
locked behind closed doors to
keep from getting the novel coro-
navirus. Supermarket shelves
were still fairly well stocked. Toi-
let paper wasn’t as coveted as N95
respirators and surgical masks.
It is two weeks now since the
NHL suspended play as a result of
the global pandemic that has ev-
eryone on edge. The NBA said it
would postpone games one night
before the NHL after its first play-
er was diagnosed with COVID-19.
Several NHL players have tested
positive since then, the most re-
cent a member of the Colorado
Avalanche on Thursday.
“The NHL made it clear that it
was always going to make its own
decision, but it was going off the
same information in a rapidly
evolving situation,” Shanahan
said. “I think it was smart for the
league to regroup and discuss itthe next morning.
“I don’t think it came as a
shock with how quickly this start-
ed to evolve the night before. I
don’t think anyone was taken by
surprise by it.”
The Maple Leafs were third in
the Atlantic Division when games
were shut down and seemingly in
control of a playoff position. It
had been in an uphill slog for
them all season, one in which a
coach was fired, but they had
done enough things well to have
a shot, however unlikely, at con-
tending for the Stanley Cup.
What happens from here is
anyone’s guess. Will the rest of
the regular season be scuttled?
Will there be playoffs and in what
form and when? How long can
the league wait to make a deci-sion without putting the start of
2020-21 at risk? Is there a point at
which the NHL will find it neces-
sary to cut its losses, cancel the
postseason and just pick up with
another campaign in the fall?
“I feel sorry not only for our
players, but for everyone else as
well,” Shanahan said. “Everyone
plays in the regular season to
have a chance at the Stanley Cup.
It is hard to have that taken away
from them and all the fans.
“From a perspective stand-
point, you realize there are other
things more important going on
right now, but it still hard.
When it comes to daily routine,
it is not much different for Shana-
han than for you and me right
now.
LEAFS, B15Inanuncertaintime,LeafsbossShanahanisstuckliketherestofus
MARTY KLINKENBERGTORONTO
Everyone plays in the
regular season to have a
chance at the Stanley
Cup.It is hard to have
that taken away from
them and all the fans.BRENDAN SHANAHAN
PRESIDENTANDALTERNATEGOVERNOR
OFTHETORONTOMAPLELEAFSREPORTONBUSINESS |