Emergency meeting called by the NHL

Things getting quite concerning around the league as COVID cases are springing up around the NHL with many names being added to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol, including Boston Bruins’ Brad Marchand and Craig Smith. Florida Panthers’ winger Ryan Lomberg, New York Islanders centre Mathew Barzal and Colorado Avalanche defenceman Devon Toews were also among a growing number of players added to the NHL’s COVID-19 Protocol.

On Tuesday morning, the Vancouver Canucks were forced to cancel practice ahead of tonight’s match up against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets and announced that defenseman Luke Schenn and forward Juho Lammikko have been placed into the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. The Calgary Flames, who have had their games postponed through at least Thursday after six players entered the protocol Monday, also added defenseman Noah Hanifin and forwards Milan Lucic and Sean Monahan to the list on Tuesday.

Tuesday’s game between Carolina and Minnesota after Hurricanes’ Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov, Ian Cole, and Steven Lorentz were placed on the COVID-19 list. Two other Hurricanes players, Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, along with a staff member are currently quarantining in Vancouver, where the team played on Sunday.

In total, we’ve seen 23 players added to the NHL’s Covid Protocol list inside the last 36 hours. And reports point to more coming.

That’s why the NHL and the NHL Players Association felt it was time to hold an emergency meeting about the issue. Pierre LeBrun reports that while the NHL is not considering putting the season on pause, some solutions are being discussed to save the campaign. Here is how he puts it in his latest article in The Athletic:

“First of all, sources say the doctors from both sides who have been advising on COVID-19 matters were scheduled to have a call Tuesday night to discuss the latest happenings and presumably suggest the next steps — which could potentially result in those doctors recommending to the NHL/NHLPA more enhanced protocols. That could mean everything from more mandated mask-wearing to daily testing of players and staff. Under the protocols since the start of the season, players were being tested every three days.

“And further down the road, if this COVID-19 wave continues to worsen, you might see some NHL games with limited crowd sizes or no fans altogether depending on local government health authorities in different NHL markets.”

The Flames were the third team to have games postponed this season, joining the Ottawa Senators and Islanders who had games postponed last month due to COVID outbreaks. The Carolina Hurricanes became the fourth on Tuesday.

And we haven’t even mentioned the Olympics here - because you know this is a hot topic across the league as well. While hope is dwindling for the Winter Games, fans are hoping the 2021-22 season does not get in jeopardy as well.