from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

Q: How difficult is the uncertainty right now – not knowing when camp will begin, when you’ll start playing games?

A: “Uncertainty is tough in life, it’s just reality. Uncertainty causes angst among people and causes stress and there’s no doubt uncertainty in these times, probably at an unprecedented high for everybody. With that said, pertaining to our situation, I’ve heard the dates floated about, but certainly there’s nothing written in stone and one of the things the NHL has done in their original Return to Play is not committing to anything before knowing it was really possible. So, right now, from a planning perspective, we have to make sure we’re prepared for the earliest possible start and if that gets delayed, at least we’re prepared, and that’s how we’ll go about it.”

Jeff Blashill: "We’re at a disadvantage, without a doubt, in the sense that we haven’t skated since March 12."

Q: We asked you after the season was announced over, how important would it be for you guys to have a sort of a mini-camp, since you have been off the ice since March 12. I’d imagine that is still important for your team?

A: “We’re at a disadvantage, without a doubt, in the sense that we haven’t skated since March 12 and the other teams, even the teams that were out of the picture quick in the return to play, spent a number of weeks prior to that as a hockey team. So certainly we’d love to be able to do some stuff ahead of camp. Potentially, camp will be shortened this year compared to other years, so it’s even more important for the individual players to be as ready as possible.

“You can skate on your own and skate in skill development that a lot of guys do during the summer, but it’s not the same as having multiple other people on the ice with you. We’ll see how that shakes out, but we’re hoping to get some time.”

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