The NHL is in danger of being knocked out by the Omicron variant.
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The number of players on the NHL rosters is growing by the hour. We would have expected the league to shut things down for a couple of weeks, adjust the schedule, and try again once the surge has passed.
The league doesn't want to do that, not with tickets already sold and some tickets having to be refunded as a result of mandated reduced capacities in Canadian cities, but COVID-19 and the Omicron variant continues to not give a single, solitary fuck about what anyone wants.
The Colorado and Florida games were postponed on Friday, along with the Flames, who will be on hiatus until after the NHL holiday break.
The Flames had to play the Islanders on Thursday night with only 11 forwards because several of their own players had been put into health and safety protocols because of the novel coronaviruses. The Bruins game against the Habs on Saturday has been called off, too, and maybe the good news is that the Islanders don't have to worry about catching the virus from the Bruins... because New York already has COVID issues and just got back from having postponed games.
Hockey is particularly difficult to play in the cold, damp air because it is so infectious, and every sports league in the world is having to deal with it right now. Hockey has an occasional mumps outbreak and annual flu issues.
