Dan’s Daily Links: NHL Hits the Ice, UPMC Says Virus Weakening

Make sure to sing Happy Birthday twice when washing your hands. The NHL sent a 21-page memo to all NHL players participating in the NHL Return to Play Phase 2, including the Pittsburgh Penguins. The note includes very specific measures. In addition to temperature checks within two hours of entering the building and social distancing in the locker room, the players are supposed to sing Happy Birthday twice while washing their hands.

Oh, please let someone sneak cell phone video of Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin doing this. Also, the rules confine the players to their group of six throughout Phase 2. So, whoever takes the together today will be grouped until Phase 3.

You can watch the full TSN report on the 21-page memo (TSN)

Dr. Donald Yealy, chair of Emergency Medicine at UPMC, held a press conference on Thursday.

“The virus may be changing. Some patterns suggest the potency is diminished,” Yealy said.

Read more about it here (Daily Mail)

That’s really, really good news. PHN was able to find other reputable reports, including from Reuters, which echoed UPMC’s findings.

The Washington Post, which disputed the COVID-19 good news also quoted a University of Pittsburgh expert who attributed the COVID-19 improvements to human behavior (Washington Post)

Back to hockey…

Which Pittsburgh Penguins will hit the ice first on Tuesday? Last chance to enter the PHN contest (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

Here is a full rundown of the teams which hit the ice yesterday and how they handled it (Sportsnet)

NHL Players of color, including former Pittsburgh Penguins d-man Trevor Daley and Evander Kane, formed the Hockey Diversity Alliance. Despite PHN being the first outlet in the city to publish a report, this was our least read story on Monday. I think it’s important to take a look (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

The NHL silly season and “let’s trade for that player,” has begun. Jack Eichel trade rumors are the course du jour (Spector’s Hockey)