Toronto Maple Leafs Begin Return to the Ice for Phase 2

The Toronto Maple Leafs have officially started returning to the ice.

Though no one knows when exactly the Toronto Maple Leafs season will resume, the NHL does seem to be making progress.

This week marked the beginning of Phase 2 of the NHL’s Return to Play Plan.

Players can begin skating in groups of six in informal practices and workout sessions. Certain members of the team and facility support staff are permitted but no coaches are allowed to join the players on the ice.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the first teams to take advantage of this shift in the status quo.

Toronto Maple Leafs Enter Phase 2

So far, two groups have taken to the ice. The first group to begin skating consists of Zach Hyman, Alex Kerfoot, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly, Travis Dermott, and Joseph Woll.

Ilya Mikheyev, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Jake Muzzin, Cody Ceci, and Jack Campbell are the second announced group, however, Marner and Ceci had yet to complete physical examinations and COVID-19 testing as of that group’s first scheduled session.

On facing the Columbus Blue Jackets, John Tavares offered the following thoughts in an interview with TSN:

"“We know have competitive our league is. How tight our league is…the parity. Columbus has been a very proven team and extremely hard-working, very well-coached team for many years now. They’ve certainly earned where they are and every opportunity that they’re getting so we know we’re going to be in for quite the series. We’re really going to have to earn it.”"

On returning to play and what it means to him and the team, Morgan Rielly said on a Zoom call with members of the media earlier this week:

"“We’re very motivated. I think that as players we want to be as prepared as we possibly can be because we understand that there’s a chance to come back and prove some people wrong. I think going into this break, we didn’t feel all that good about where we were in the months leading up. And I think that we’ve all had some time to think about that and we have a chance to change the narrative a little bit.”"

In other news, a report from Sportsnet circulating Friday night claims that Las Vegas has been selected to be one of the two hub cities.

Toronto is widely expected to be the other, assuming an agreement can be struck with the Canadian government regarding a circumvention or modification of the 14-day mandatory quarantine policy currently imposed on anyone entering the country.

Phase 3 of the Return to Play Plan, the training camp portion of the four-step undertaking, is set to commence on July 10th.