from Michael Traikos at the Ottawa Citizen,

It was on Monday when hockey trainer Dan Ninkovich received the first panicked text.

For the first few days of this indefinite hiatus, NHL players had been enjoying the time off as best as they could. They had banged-up bodies that needed rest after six months of playing hockey. So they rested. They sat around. They watched TV. They happily did nothing.

By Day 4, they were going stir crazy.

“Guys like time off, but even four days without skating and they start freaking out,” said Ninkovich, who’s client list includes Connor McDavid, Quinn Hughes and Matt Duchene. “So you can imagine what eight weeks will do. It will be extremely hard for them to stay in shape. It’s not feasible to continue if it drags on and they don’t go on the ice in the next two or three weeks. It’s going to feel like a new season for them. I don’t see it. I just don’t see it.

“If it’s longer than two weeks, I’d call it quits.”

continued