Vegas Golden Knights: The boys are back in town, kind of

The Vegas Golden Knights are back in town. Well, some of them are.

Monday marked the official start of Phase 2 of the NHL’s Return To Play Plan and the Vegas Golden Knights, along with the other 30 teams, were allowed to return to team facilities.

It was another significant step in the right direction for the NHL as they continue to try to get back to some level of normality in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There is of course plenty of work still to be done ahead of Training Camps opening at some point in July, but it was a welcome sight to see some players get back on the ice yesterday.

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Granted, not many teams jumped straight back in on Monday but the Golden Knights did report back to City National Arena.

Per the guidelines set out by the National Hockey League, only six players are allowed on the ice at the same time in order to adhere to social distancing.

Per Jesse Granger of The Athletic, the following players hit the ice for the Golden Knights:

• Marc-Andre Fleury
• Deryk Engelland
• Nick Holden
• Paul Stastny
• Mark Stone
• Max Pacioretty

It is believed that the majority, if not all members of the Vegas Golden Knights are currently in the Nevada area, so it should make it easier for the coaching staff to get every player on the ice at some point before Training Camps get underway.

For myself, and I’m sure every Golden Knights fan out there, it was a sight to behold to see the likes of Stone and Pacioretty back out on the ice and putting the work in.

It was also normal service resumed after footage captured Fleury busting out some push-ups on the ice.

As you do.

More importantly, however, for those on the ice on Monday, it allowed them to knock off the rust and start to get used to being back in skates and on the ice again.

After all, the Golden Knights last played on March. 9, which is a hell of a long time ago, so it is only natural if players are out of game shape.

Plus, for Stone and Pacioretty who both picked up injuries prior to the NHL going on hiatus, being allowed back on the ice in small groups will give them the opportunity to regain sharpness and get back into a groove before Training Camp.

For the next few weeks the sight of seeing only six players on the ice at once will become familiar, with the NHL rightly proceeding with caution when it comes to hockey returning.

In addition to only six players being allowed on the ice at once, testing and temperature checks will be carried out on a daily basis and players will have to wear face masks at all times, except when they are on the ice or in the weight room.

It is likely that the Golden Knights will already have a schedule in place for Phase 2, in order to ensure that all players currently in Nevada get the ice time they need while sticking to the six players at once rule.

Of course, Phase 2 isn’t mandatory and those who don’t feel comfortable reporting to City National Arena won’t be required to do so, but expect to see more familiar faces back on the ice over the coming days.

Again, this is just a tentative baby step in the grand scheme of things but seeing some of the players back out on the ice on Monday just got us pumped for the eventual return of Vegas Golden Knights hockey.