3:40 PM
The NHL is concerned about the rise in COVID-19 cases.
In just over 36 hours, nearly 30 players and staff members were added to the league's protocols. One day after the Flames' season was put on hold due to an organizational outbreak, the Minnesota Wild and Carolina Hurricanes' game was postponed.
The situation can change at any time. Here, Emily Kaplan, Greg Wyshynski, and Kristen Shilton answer some of the questions about where the NHL is at, what might be in store for the season, and how the NHL's Olympics participation could be affected by COVID-19 worries.
How many games have been canceled?
The NHL has postponed nine games this season because of "mini-clusters" of outbreak on four specific teams. The Senators played three games that were postponed from November 16-20. The New York Islanders had two road games scratched.
The Flames were about to embark on a US road trip when the NHL decided to put the team's season on hold. The Carolina Hurricanes' game at the Minnesota Wild was postponed Tuesday.
Will the NHL/NHLPA change their protocols because of this?
The NHL is implementing enhanced protocols through at least January 7, according to sources.
The decision came after the NHL, NHLPA and their doctors held conference calls on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon.
NHL players were tested every third day last season, but under the enhanced protocols they will be tested daily. All team personnel will be required to wear face masks at facilities, meetings will be held virtually, and everyone will be asked to limit social interactions outside of the hotel, rink or home. The NHL has only one player who isn't vaccine proof.
Many players have already received the booster shot, which was recommended by the NHL. The league does not intend to mandate a booster shot at this time, sources tell the network.
Is there a chance the league stops for a while again?
The NHL is not considering a pause. The league sees that as a last resort. The league is trying to figure out a way to play through the rash of cases since most players who test positive have mild to no symptoms.
Who are some of the players in the COVID protocol right now?
Dave Tippett was placed in protocol after the team's loss. The Carolina Hurricanes' game against the Minnesota Wild was postponed because a number of players are in protocol. Boston Bruins forwards Brad Marchand and Craig Smith were placed in protocol on Tuesday.
The Flames had a number of players in the protocol and had three games postponed. They added 17 team members to the league's protocols on Wednesday, including the head coach.
How does the current influx of players and staff compare to last season?
The situation this season is different than last season.
The NHL is vaccine free, save for Detroit Red Wings forward Tyler Bertuzzi, who has refused to receive the vaccine. While players and staff members have tested positive, the symptoms being reported by individuals have been either very mild or notexistent.
Several players and coach were felled by symptoms when COVID-19 ripped through the organization last spring.
Lucic still tested positive this week, but he has already received his booster shots. More players may get their third dose sooner rather than later.
The players and employees have not been subject to the same rigorous protocols as before. Dressing rooms were more crowded and players were expected to be masked at all times. When the virus is suddenly spreading rapidly, fully vaccine players are not beholden to those same parameters, which makes it hard for them.
There's more travel for every NHL team this season. That results in more interactions with other people.
Many guys have more people in contact with them than they did last year, as one player noted Tuesday night. Some offices have reopened and schools are back in session. When virtual learning and work from home were prominent, those interactions created more opportunities for players that weren't there before.
There's no single person to blame. The NHL may want to ramp up protocols again until the coronaviruses is out of the picture.
When a player for an American team tests positive in Canada, what happens?
There are different provisions in Canada and the U.S.
The NHL's COVID-19 protocol states that when a person tests positive, they must stay at the local hotel. The Canadian government requires a 14-day quark for any positive test. Sebastian Aho and a team staffer were forced to stay in Canada for two weeks after testing positive for a banned substance during a game.
When Hurricanes teammates Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov, Ian Cole and Steven Lorentz tested positive in Minnesota, they were sent to a hotel for the time being.
Emergency medical transport could be used to return the trio to Raleigh, as of Wednesday morning. The hope is that the situation will be settled in the next day or so.
Hurricanes' GM Don Waddell told The Athletic on Tuesday that they are working on getting everyone back home, because they have three guys there and four guys in Minnesota. Maybe we can bring them all together.
What is the current thinking on the Olympics?
The NHL's perspective is that the players' participation in the Beijing Olympics was collectively bargained last year, and they're sticking to that commitment if there isn't a material disruption for the 2021-22 regular season. If it became clear that we couldn't rescheduling without doing something else, the league would pull the chute on their participation. We're not there yet, but the NHL isn't saying what its threshold is for a "material disruption" of the season.
You can cast your vote to determine the captain for the NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas in 2022. Fans can submit their votes at NHL.com and via the NHL app.
The players are concerned about getting COVID-19 while participating in the Olympics. The current "playbook" given to athletes by the Beijing Organizing Committee states that a player with asymptomatic symptoms would be taken to a hospital and a player withsymptomatic symptoms would be sent to an isolation center.
If asymptomatic athletes continue to show no symptoms after two negative COVID-19 test results, they will be discharged and face increased COVID-19 protocols. Athletes who show symptoms could be in for a long stay in China.
Athletes can be discharged from the hospital when their body temperature returns to normal for three consecutive days, their respiratory symptoms improve significantly, and they have two consecutive negative COVID-19 tests within 24 hours of each other. They need the Chinese medical expert panel's approval to be discharged.
The NHLPA has told players that the time it takes for a player to be symptom free in a hospital could be between three and five weeks. Recovery time could be quicker, but the players are hearing from the union that it is realistic.
It could mean over a month and a half away from loved ones in China, but it could also have a significant financial impact. After the NHL Olympic break, players who contract COVID-19 will not be paid for missed practices or games. The International Ice Hockey Federation has a fund worth $5 million to cover lost salary. Players wouldn't be compensated for lost time once that's gone.
The location of the Quarantine facilities is one of the things that the NHLPA is waiting to hear from Beijing. It's waiting to find out if an injured athlete can leave China to return to North America.
What are the critical dates for the Olympics?
Jan. 10, 2022, was believed to be a critical date in the NHL's participation, as any pullout after that day would mean financial penalties for the league. The deputy commissioner said that a decision can be made beyond the 10th of January.
Don Fehr hopes for clarity by January 10. I would like to be able to say by that date. He said that it's contingent on nothing changing after that. "The plan is to go unless something happens which causes us to rethink."
Team USA is keeping an eye on players who play in the American Hockey League and the NCAA to see if they can make a Plan B. For Canada, look no further than the upcoming Channel One Cup for a glimpse at what their Plan B roster could look like, led by former NHLers like Ryan Spooner, Eric Fehr and Jason Demers.
How much wiggle room is left in the schedule?
Some will be made up over the course of the season. Two of the nine games that were postponed had been rearranged. The Olympic break provides the most wiggle room. The NHL didn't want to end the season with time to make up games that were postponed. April 29 is the last day of the regular season. The Stanley Cup playoffs start on May 2. It's not ideal to push the playoffs into the summer in the first year of a new television deal. June 30 is the date for a potential Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final.
How much time could the league devote to the Olympics? The NHL has a "shadow schedule" that includes a one-week break, and some games move up from later in the season. Building availability is a problem. The NHL encouraged its arenas not to book events during the Olympic break in order to make sure the players don't go to Beijing. The arenas have taken a lot of financial hits during the Pandemic and have used that time to change tours and book other acts.
There are 11 concerts at Madison Square Garden, with artists such as Billy Eilish, and three Knicks games during the NHL break. There are 16 events at the center, including Lakers and Clippers games and three days of concerts.
The players are going to the Olympics. Is anyone else opting out?
Robin Lehner, a lock for Team Sweden, has publicly stated he would decline an invitation to participate in the Olympics.
Some of the uncertainty and the possibility of a lengthy quarantine in China have begun to be commented on by other stars around the league.
Linda and Emily bring their hockey expertise and passion for the sport, as well as interviewing the biggest names both on and off the ice, to the show. Listen here.
When it comes to the Olympics, it's obviously going to be a very fluid situation, according to the captain of the Oilers. There hasn't been a lot of information, and then there's that three- to five-week thing. It has been floating around. If that were to be the case, it's frightening.
The desire to represent his country remained strong for him.
He said that he still wants to play in the Olympics. We want to make sure it's safe for everyone. For all athletes, not just hockey players.
Alex Pietrangelo told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that his concerns are mounting.
He has four kids that are under the age of three and a half. It's going to take me a long time to be away from my family. I'm not going to make a decision until we get all the answers. We're all sitting and waiting.
John Tavares, the captain of the Maple Leafs, shared his hesitation about going to Beijing after he was selected to Team Canada for the Olympics.
"I think we all hope to go, but clearly I think things are a little bit more uneasy than they were," he said. There are some questions that we want to look into. There are going to be some challenges with where things are. I'm probably a little more uneasy than I was a few months ago.
If the situation remains the same as it is now, he won't be going to the Olympics.
The recent wave of positive cases throughout the NHL seems to have made more players chiming in.
