Rumor: Signs point to the Boston Bruins getting shut down.

The National Hockey League has been resistant to shutting down the league before the holiday break, as many fans and pundits have suggested they should given the recent rash of Covid outbreaks around the league, but a number of teams have already been shut down on a case by case basis. 

There have been no announcements of this kind just yet today, but NHL insider Pierre LeBrun has strongly hinted at the fact that he expects them to be forthcoming,.

There are now signs that the Boston Bruins may be the next team to be shut down by the league. To be clear there has been no official announcement from the league, but a number of reports on Saturday certainly seem to be indicating that the league is moving in that directon.

Ottawa Senators insider Bruce Garrioch has indicated that the NHL is now expected to postpone Sunday's game between the Bruins and the Ottawa Senators, a change that was seemingly made just moments ago.

Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe reported that as early as this morning the plan was still for the Bruins to play in Ottawa on Sunday.

Pierre LeBrun has indicated that the change may have come as a result of testing.

Perhaps the biggest sign that the Bruins may be shut down over the holidays however stems from practice on Saturday. According to Bruins insider Fluto Shinzawa, the Bruins players could be heard wishing one another Merry Christmas as they left the ice on Saturday morning, behavior that would appear to indicate that the players themselves are not expecting to see one another again for some time.

Last but not least, the National Hockey League announced on Saturday that they would be implementing stricter protocols for the time being, and it is possible that the Bruins have been impacted by these tighter restrictions that come as a result of a high number of cases around the league.