TAMPA, Fla. _ For four months, questions swirled around the NHL. There weren't many answers for most of that time.
Talk had been of possible empty arenas until March 11, when the first NBA player tested positive. The NHL paused its season the next day.
In the last two decades, the league has worked around lockouts of a full season and a half season. But there was no plan in place for what to do in case of a midseason shutdown.
The negotiations around returning to play, and then a revised and extended collective bargaining agreement, mostly took place between owners and players. Owners communicated with team CEOs, general managers and coaches, but the two parties at the virtual table were the league (representing owners) and the players association.
The Tampa Bay Times talked with Lightning forward and NHLPA representative Alex Killorn, owner Jeff Vinik, general manager Julien BriseBois and coach Jon Cooper about their experiences through the process of getting the NHL back on the ice.
