Washington Capitals: Training camp is finally on the horizon

We now know the date the Washington Capitals can begin training camp.

The National Hockey League and the NHL Players Association have reached an agreement on when they can begin training camp after the season hit a pause button due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. Formal training camps for all 24 playoff teams including the Washington Capitals can open on Friday, July 10.

Here’s a transcript of the press release from the NHL:

"The National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) announced today that formal training camps (Phase 3) for the 24 teams resuming play will open on Friday, July 10, provided that medical and safety conditions allow and the parties have reached an overall agreement on resuming play. The length of training camp and, therefore, the start date for formal resumption of play (Phase 4) will be determined at a future date."

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It’s looking very much like we won’t see any hockey games until August at the earliest when the Stanley Cup playoffs and Phase 4 take place but this news is another exciting and positive development as we continue to heal as a country from the pandemic.

The Caps have already opened their practice facility MedStar Capitals Iceplex to select groups of six players at a time and select staff while there won’t be any access provided to fans or media.

Per Samantha Pell of The Washington Post (subscription required): only four players have remained in the Washington, D.C. area. Those players are defenseman John Carlson, goaltender Braden Holtby and centers Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller. They all skated at MedStar on Thursday.

With permission, players in other NHL locations are allowed to utilize their respective facilities. Tomorrow Northern Virginia enters Phase 2 of their novel coronavirus recovery plan which can allow sites such as MedStar to open to the public with restrictions.

There isn’t any word though from the Capitals nor MedStar Capitals Iceplex on when the reopening of that facility will take place.