Senators coach D.J. Smith on coronavirus: ‘It hit us but it probably saved a lot of us, too’

The Ottawa Senators are amongst the sports companies that have actually been hit the hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, but coach D.J. Smith understands it might have been even worse for his club.

The Senators have actually revealed 5 favorable tests for COVID-19 amongst players over the past couple of weeks, consisting of the first verified case in the NHL on March17 The Colorado Avalanche later on reported 3 verified cases of their own, bringing the league overall to 8 players. The NHL season has actually been suspended because March12

With all 5 Ottawa players reported to be recuperated, Smith stated the team was fortunate the cases weren’t more major.

“Everyone that had it didn’t have horrible symptoms,” he informed press reporters on a video call Wednesday. “Some guys didn’t feel well but, being athletes, they all got through it and they’re all on the other side of it now.”

MORE: Bettman states NHL requirements more details prior to making a decision on 2019-20 season

The team is thought to have actually been exposed to the infection throughout a journey throughout California in early March. Smith believes the Senators’ experience might have opened people’s eyes to the scale of the continuous crisis.

“I’m really glad that everyone that was involved in our organization and on that plane is now doing well,” he stated. “It’s certainly a scary time, but yeah, it hit us, but at the same point it probably saved a lot of us, too, because unless you see it up close that quickly, we probably got a bit of a jump on this.”

Almost a month has actually passed because the NHL stopped briefly the season, but with the pandemic continuing to contaminate more people all over the world, there has actually been no indicator when the season might resume. Strategies of summertime hockey, a 24-team playoff and neutral-site games in North Dakota have actually all been talked about, but it looks significantly possible the 2019-20 season may be a lost cause. Regardless of how things play out, the 25-34-12 Senators won’ t be associated with the postseason.

Smith is still hoping his team can finish its schedule, nevertheless.

“I’m hopeful that we can get out of the house and get back to work and joking with the guys,” he stated. “We want to finish on the right note. We want to finish with the message of how we’re going to work until the very end, to the very last buzzer. . . . The most important thing to me is the development of our young guys and that they continue to get better.”

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