The rise in COVID-19 cases in the NHL is not slowing down. Only Wednesday morning, three teams announced that they had added names to the league’s protocol for the prevention of the coronavirus.
The Calgary Flames are the worst off: 17 members of the organization have been placed under observation, including seven players, three coaches and seven employees.
Listing these people does not mean that they all tested positive for COVID-19. It can also be close contacts of positive cases.
The seven Flames players are Rasmus Andersson, Byron Froese, Johnny Gaudreau, Erik Gudbranson, Trevor Lewis, Jacob Markström and Tyler Pitlick. They are joined by head coach Darryl Sutter, associate coach Kirk Muller, and assistant Ryan Huska. The seven employees have not been named.
The Flames had already suspended their activities on Monday after six players were enrolled in the COVID-19 protocol: Elias Lindholm, Andrew Mangiapane, Brad Richardson, Adam Ruzicka, Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov.
The team’s activities were then put on hiatus until Thursday, but the league has already announced that the suspension was extended until Saturday, at least.
The Nashville Predators are also grappling with a possible outbreak. The team entered 12 names in the protocol, including 6 players.
The players are Mikael Granlund, Ryan Johansen, Matt Luff, Michael McCarron, Philip Tomasino and Ben Harpur. The other six included head coach John Hynes, assistants Dan Lambert and Todd Richards, and goaltending coach Ben Vanderklok.
The Predators play their next game on Thursday at home against the Colorado Avalanche, and the game is still on the schedule for now.
The Washington Capitals caused a stir when they announced that forward Evgeny Kuznetsov was on COVID-19 protocol. This is the third time the Russian has appeared there, and he had tested positive for COVID-19 the first two times.
PHOTO NICK WASS, ARCHIVES ASSOCIATED PRESS
Evgeny Kuznetsov
At the end of the afternoon, it was the turn of the Florida Panthers to increase the balance sheet. Five players have been added to the protocol: Sam Bennett, Radko Gudas, Ryan Lomberg, Brandon Montour and Carter Verhaeghe. A staff member has also been registered.
The case of the Bruins
In Boston, the Bruins put Patrice Bergeron’s name on protocol. On Tuesday, the team also registered forwards Brad Marchand and Craig Smith. In the middle of the day, the Detroit Red Wings in turn announced two new registrations to the COVID-19 protocol: forwards Robby Fabbri and Michael Rasmussen.
The Bruins face the Canadiens on Saturday in Montreal, but it’s questionable whether the game will go as planned. Before arriving in the metropolis, the team must face the New York Islanders this Thursday in Long Island, and head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters his roster will spend an additional night in New York before crossing the frontier. We want to make sure that a player who tests positive for COVID-19 is not stuck in Canada, where he should observe quarantine. Citing three NHL sources, the Boston Hockey Now site revealed that the Bruins are in talks with the league to postpone their trip that will bring them to Montreal and Ottawa.
Journalist Louis Jean, of TVA Sports, for his part wrote on Twitter that the league and the Players’ Association “are continuing their discussions on the tightening of COVID-19 protocols”. According to him, an announcement is expected shortly.
With the Canadiens, we are obviously following the situation closely.
“We talked about it in the last few days,” confirmed David Savard. We do everything we can to stay on the ice. We have to work harder on prevention, make sure we stay as safe as possible. We do everything we can by wearing our masks, by washing our hands. “
When there are cases in the team, we are tested twice a day.
David Savard, from the Canadian
In early December, Brendan Gallagher and Sami Niku both tested positive. They have just been released from protocol and will soon be joining their teammates.
“On the road, we also try to be careful, especially these days, when cases are exploding everywhere we travel,” added Savard. The defender also noted that the Players’ Association provided regular updates on the health protocols to be observed.
“We are not different from the rest of society: we want a return to normal and that everyone remains healthy,” added Ben Chiarot.
Reduced training for Hurricanes
In Carolina, the Hurricanes announced Wednesday at noon that their game scheduled for Thursday night against the Red Wings still stood, even though the team has six players in the protocol (Sebastian Aho, Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov, Seth Jarvis , Ian Cole and Steven Lorentz).
According to Brother Pierre LeBrun, the Hurricanes currently plan to play with 16 skaters, two fewer than the required number.
The rise in cases isn’t just affecting the NHL. The American League has announced the postponement of a Wednesday night game between Belleville and Lehigh Valley.
In the Ontario Junior League (OHL), the Erie Otters have ended their season with 13 positive cases. For now, two games have been postponed.
Closer to home, the QMJHL announced that a Quebec Remparts player had been placed in administrative segregation following a positive test.
“In accordance with the QMJHL protocol on COVID-19 which was approved by Public Health, all players and members of the staff of the Remparts had to take a screening test and all the results were negative”, the league said in a statement.
Omicron in the NHL
In reaction to the outbreaks of the past few days, the NHL and the Players’ Association have agreed to tighten measures, according to several media.
Thus, the players will be subjected to daily tests, except during the days off. They are currently tested once every three days. In addition, they will have to comply with new restrictions on indoor meals when traveling abroad, and will have to wear masks and observe distancing measures at team facilities. ESPN colleague Emily Kaplan specifies that team meetings should be held in virtual mode.
Still according to Kaplan, these measures will be in place until January 7, at a minimum.
According to Sportsnet reporter Elliotte Friedman, the Omicron variant has indeed affected NHL teams. The circuit therefore invites eligible players to receive their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. To this end, some teams seem to have already taken the initiative. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan told the Pittsburgh media on Tuesday that members of the team were given an extra dose on October 30.
Remember that at the latest news, only one NHL player was not adequately vaccinated, that is, Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi.
Small crowds in Ontario
Finally, Ontario has announced a reduction in the number of crowds at indoor sporting events, which will affect the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators in the NHL. Thus, rooms that can accommodate more than 1000 spectators will be able to accommodate a maximum of 50% of their capacity. The measure comes into effect on Saturday.
For the Leafs, the official capacity of the Scotiabank Arena is 18,800 spectators for hockey. This season, the team was averaging 18,819 spectators per game, according to ESPN data. Under the new rules, the Leafs will therefore have to limit themselves to just under 10,000 spectators.
The Senators’ amphitheater, the Canadian Tire Center, can accommodate up to 18,600 spectators. However, the Senators were averaging 11,545 spectators per game this season, just above the new limit.