The Canadian | There will be a match despite everything

It is not improving for the Canadian. Already in bad shape, the team announced that they had added the names of Jake Evans and Alexander Romanov to the list of players subject to the COVID-19 protocol.

Guillaume Lefrançois
Press

In addition, forward Brendan Gallagher, who injured his lower body in Thursday’s game, will also miss the meeting.

With these absences, and unable to recall players, the Habs will therefore play Saturday’s game at 1 p.m., against the Florida Panthers, with incomplete training. The team has 18 players, rather than the usual 20. There are only 11 attackers and 5 defenders available.

Would the team have preferred the match to be postponed under these circumstances? “There have been discussions between the organization and the league. The league has the last word and we have a game to play at 1 am, ”replied Dominique Ducharme dryly.

Evans and Romanov are the sixth and seventh CH members added to the list of COVID-19-related absentees in the past four days. The others are Paul Byron, Cayden Primeau, Louie Belpedio, Gianni Fairbrother and Brandon Baddock. For Byron, it was clarified that he did not have the virus, but that a member of his entourage did.

Moreover, there is obviously an outbreak in the team locker room.

“It’s in the locker room, yes,” Ducharme agreed. It can’t be somewhere else, we can’t go anywhere! To say that we have lost control… We cannot control it any more than we can wear our masks and do whatever is asked of us. ”