“I don’t think it’ll be too friendly around the bubble.” NHL players prepare to battle on the ice and share space in the Secure Zone.
St. Louis Blues centre Ryan O’Reilly, whose team will begin its title defence in the Western Conference’s round-robin tournament to determine the top-4 seeds on that side of the bracket in Edmonton, said it will be strange running into someone you butted heads with in a game at the hotel the next morning.
“Seeing a lot of your playoff opponents wouldn’t necessarily be a normal feeling, but we’re all professionals,” he said. “We’re all grateful just to be able to be in that bubble and to be playing hockey at this time. There’ll be a lot of adjustments across the board, and that certainly is going to be something we haven’t seen before.”
Capitals head coach Todd Reirden said the idea of being anywhere near an opponent off the ice would have been severely frowned upon during his playing days. The fact of the matter is times have changed in hockey. The strong dislike among players of generations past is mostly gone. There’s a lot more socializing away from the rink, both during and after the season.
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