Blackhawks can soon begin small workouts as NHL plans first move out of coronavirus shutdown

The Blackhawks remain in a complete coronavirus shutdown, but the NHL announced plans Monday that will soon begin to move them out of it.

A lengthy memorandum released by the league outlines rules for the second phase of its “Return to Sport Protocol,” which is now scheduled to begin in early June.

The most prominent changes will be reopening team practice facilities and permitting players to hold small-group workouts together in anticipation of an eventual resumption to the season.

Although those workouts won’t be allowed to exceed six participants and can’t have any coaches or trainers present, they’ll represent the first sign of hockey life since the season was suspended indefinitely March 12.

That means coach Jeremy Colliton won’t be able to call the team together for practices, but a leader like Jonathan Toews or Duncan Keith could, and likely will, start organizing sessions as players slowly migrate back to Chicago.

The memo states that teams still can’t require their players to return from their homes and that a 14-day quarantine period will be required for virtually all returning players. Toews said on a March 31 Zoom call that most of his Hawks teammates had left the city, although he was riding out the pandemic at his Chicago home.

Players also will be tested for the coronavirus twice a week and checked for symptoms and their temperature every day.

The weekend easily was the most eventful stretch yet of the NHL’s shutdown, between the phase progression announcement Monday and the NHL Players Association’s agreement Saturday to a 24-team playoff format this year.

That format would include the Hawks — despite their mediocre 32-30-8 record and low chance of qualifying for the 16-team format when the season stopped — and likely put them in a best-of-five first-round series against the Oilers, whom they’ve beaten twice in three tries this season.

But an overwhelming amount of logistical challenges remain, such as where the playoffs will take place and how players, coaches and staff will be kept safe once they begin.

A Hawks spokesperson, reached Monday, deferred comment on the second phase progression to the league’s announcement.