After four months off, the Winnipeg Jets are a step closer to returning to action.
The Jets announced on Thursday they have started the NHL’s Phase 2 Return to Play Plan. The move allows players to workout in small groups at the Bell MTS Iceplex with a maximum of six players participating at one time.
Neither fans or the media are allowed to attend the on-ice sessions.
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According to a spokesperson for the club, all Jets’ players are now back in Winnipeg. Players arriving in the country have to undergo seven days of self isolation where they’re tested for COVID-19 every other day. When the quarantine concludes, players must enter another seven-day quarantine period that only permits them to attend the team facility and their home. Most of the Jets are now entering their second quarantine period.
Players taking part in phase two are participating on a voluntary basis.
The Jets are expected to open training camp on Monday to kick off the NHL’s Phase 3 Return to Play protocols. But camp can’t begin until both the NHL’s Board of Governors and the NHL Players’ Association ratify both the Return to Play Plan and the new collective bargaining agreement.
The Jets will travel to their hub city for the playoffs on July 26, and will face the Calgary Flames in a best-of-five qualifying round starting the first week of August.
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