WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In preparation for the World Cup of Hockey, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly addressed three important topics on Wednesday, including revamped protocol for concussion detection, the league's future participation in the Olympics and a new anti-doping program.
Daly described the concussion protocol as completely revamped to make the system work better during the upcoming best-on-best tournament and for the regular season.
"We've imported the protocol in its entirety here. You have the challenge with the games overseas, so we had on-site spotters we sent to the European games. We're going to have spotters in the building and in our Toronto situation room, so there will be plenty of spotters and players get removed for visible signs," Daly said. "That will be mandatory removal done at the league level.
"It's a pretty major revamp from what it was last year. We're going to have four centralized spotters who will be in a situation room in either Toronto or New York and be watching every game. They will be kind of the ruling spotters, and they'll have the ability to communicate with each building," Daly added.
"There will also be league-employed spotters in the building, because the feeling with the concussion subcommittee was there are certain visible signs that you might only see in person and that there might not be a good video feed of, or there might not be an explanation through a video feed, so we're going to have both those spotters. Plus, you have the club's medical staff. We're building in reinforcements to make the system work better."
Daly also explained there's no resolution between the league and the International Ice Hockey Federation on future Olympic participation, but the sides will talk at some point during the World Cup of Hockey over the next two weeks in Toronto.
"There hasn't been any change in status since our last meeting [in the spring], so it's been radio silence on that end. Again, I hope we get an update and a better understanding where things stand," Daly said.
The league will use the World Cup of Hockey as a "relevant platform" to value its success, enthusiasm and players' reactions and compare it to possible Olympic participation.
"We haven't had a discussion with the IIHF for a couple of months now on where they stand with the IOC on Olympic participation, so I expect over the next two weeks we'll get a briefing," Daly said. "The IIHF will be present in Toronto for this tournament, so we'll have a better sense of where we're going with the Olympics in the next little while."
The NHL and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have worked together to design a new stringent policy for the World Cup of Hockey and the regular season.
"I wouldn't say it's exactly like the Olympics, but it's pretty close to what the Olympic program was," Daly said. "All of our players in this tournament were subject to testing during their training camps. During the tournament, we'll randomly select three players from each team after each game for testing. The list for which we test for is broader in this tournament than it is during the regular season."