The Detroit Red Wings are limited in what they can do one week into the NHL’s pause due to the coronavirus pandemic. They are trying to prepare for any scenario, whether that’s returning to play this season or not.

“We’re in unprecedented times,” coach Jeff Blashill said Thursday. “There are huge obstacles to continuing, to continuing at the level that we’re all expected to continue. That doesn’t mean those obstacles can’t be tackled. I think everybody would love to see the Stanley Cup awarded. I think everybody would like to get back to normal as quick as we can. But that might not be reality.

“We’re going to take it day-by-day. We’re going to wait and see what tomorrow’s reality is. … Those obstacles could end up being too great. That’s a reality of the situation we’re in.”

Blashill summed up this past week in one word: weird. The Red Wings were in Washington last Thursday when the NHL suspended the season. They returned home and in the days that followed many players went their separate ways, not knowing if or when they’ll play any or all of their remaining 11 games.

“This is a National Hockey League decision that will be made by Commissioner (Gary) Bettman and I need to make sure I’m prepared on any decision,” Blashill said. “Certainly, if we go back and are going to play our games, we need some time to ramp up, just from injury prevention. I also understand the longer this goes, the less chance of that happening. But from a coaching perspective we just want to make sure we’re prepared, depending on what the decision-makers decide. I don’t really have a feeling one way or the other."

Blashill doesn’t believe any players have been tested for COVID-19.

“We’re keeping close tabs on them,” Blashill said. “No one’s met any of the requirements needed in order to be tested (symptoms, high-risk categories).”

He said many players have returned home or are in the process of doing so, whether that’s Canada, Sweden, the Czech Republic or other parts of the U.S., where they remain in self-quarantine.

After taking a wait-and-see approach on whether the pandemic would get worse, Blashill and his staff now are planning ahead.

“If at any point, the NHL says to us that we’re going to resume, we have to be prepared,” he said. “Having a skeleton in place of how we would attack those days of a potential mini-camp, we’re doing that.”

A report Tuesday from tsn.ca indicated some players are proposing a mini-training camp to start in early July, followed by the completion of the regular season that month and playoffs in August and September.

Blashill said he’s trying not to speculate on what might happen.

“I read the same headlines and thought to myself, that’s late,” Blashill said. “My gut feel is there’s a lot of potential restraints that would make that proposal potentially not doable. That’s with very little knowledge of the situation.

“From my perspective, we’re going to do whatever we’re told to do. … I’ve just tried more to keep track of what’s going on in the world. Are we getting this virus under control or are we headed down a path of more stringent things that we need to adhere to to stop the spread of it?”

Blashill’s first message to players, the last he communicated directly, was go home and stay safe.

“Since then, our strength and conditioning coach, Rob Campbell, has put a plan in place for our players, if the season would potentially resume, a plan for the next couple weeks,” Blashill said. “The first segment would be a little bit of the rest that you would normally go through and then lead into a segment where it would be ramped up a little bit. What we had to do is kind of give them guidelines of what they can do at home without lots of weights and we tried to have communication with players, what’s available to you.

“In the last week or so, it’s been way more of a let’s wait and see where this thing goes and if anything, use this week to kind of have some of that healing that you need at the end of the year.”

Blashill has daily phone conversations with general manager Steve Yzerman.

“Just trying to stay in contact to see if there’s anybody who needs help,” Blashill said. “Are our people being taken care of? How do we best utilize this time? Life favors the prepared, so how can we be as prepared as possible for when we all come out of this? Certainly, it’s so fluid that it’s impossible to plan weeks in advance."

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