The NHL's oldest head coach still worries about COVID-19 but not enough to stop doing his job. It's a risk-reward proposition coaches and executives around sports are weighing as they consider masking up behind the bench and taking other precautions in the middle of a pandemic.
In this photo provided by the Dallas Stars NHL hockey team, interim head coach Rick Bowness watches practice in Frisco, Texas, Tuesday, July 14, 2020. After two days behind a mask and off his skates, Rick Bowness returned to his natural habitat on the ice with air inside the rink blowing against his face.
"It's a different world out there," Bowness, 65, said. "I'm going to have to adjust to it, there is no question. I just want to make sure I'm cautious, which we've been since this virus started, and I will continue to do that. My health -- hey, I'm a grandfather now, my first grandkid. I intend on playing some golf with that kid down the road. I intend on being here a lot longer. So, yeah, am I going to be careful? Absolutely.
Coaches are relying on frequent testing at training camp and in the hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton, hoping before going into quarantine that players and their families can avoid contracting the virus that halted the season in March. All team staff are tested every other day for now and will be daily once games start.
Outside practice facilities, coaches' comfort levels might vary from a hotspot such as Texas to the Canadian province of Manitoba, where there have been zero reported cases in 13 of the past 14 days. Tortorella, who along with Philadelphia's 59-year-old Alain Vigneault and Boston's 55-year-old Bruce Cassidy is a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year, brushed aside a question about himself and said, "Safety is the priority" for all involved.
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