Bill Daly's comments suggest the NHL has considered shutting down. (VIDEO)

The Mumps outbreak in the NHL has gotten pretty serious, but Bill Daly's comments yesterday shined a whole new light on just how serious the spread of the virus has become. While Daly made it crystal clear that he believes the NHL will not be shutting down due to the virus, it showed that the least has at the very least had the idea cross their minds. It shouldn't come as a huge surprise, one aspect of this outbreak that many fans often overlook, is the sheer number of people a traveling NHL roster will come into contact with on a week to week basis. People involved in their travel, building personnel for the arenas they play in, and even people in a hospital where they are being treated (Pittsburgh Penguins recently infected a children's hospital). Daly spoke Katie Strang of ESPN and made it clear the league was stepping up it's efforts:

"I think it was far more specific is what I'd say," Daly said.  "We drilled down to specific expectations in terms of putting someone in charge at the club level to make sure things are getting handled appropriately. The basis of information hasn't changed. Everyone knows what the disease is, how it is transmitted and the steps that need to be taken to minimize outbreak."

Here are Dal's comments about the league staying open for business:

"The thing I take the most comfort in is that, of most experts in the area here - and we've talked to a lot - no one is as concerned as the media is," Daly said. "It's not this scourge that's going to end things for the league or force us to shut down."

The fact that the league has even considered the possibility of shutting down, something we don't believe has ever been suggested by any media outlet, is troubling, With new cases being confirmed it seems almost daily now, it will be interesting to see how the NHL reacts if the epidemic continues.