Wednesday night’s game between the Vancouver Canucks vs Calgary Flames has been cancelled as reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Freidman. He reports that two members of the Canucks and a member of their coaching staff have gone into Covid protocol. Canucks forward Adam Gaudette tested positive Covid-19 on Tuesday
League says CAL/VAN postponed as a result of two Vancouver Canucks Players and a member of coaching staff entering the NHL’s COVID Protocols
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 1, 2021
Vancouver Canucks vs Calgary Flames Game Postponed
On Tuesday, Adam Gaudette was pulled off practice after testing positive for Covid-19. However, it appeared the game was still safe to play after contact tracing was completed. More members of the Canucks have entered the NHL’s Covid protocols, causing the game to be cancelled an hour and a half before the game was scheduled to start.
After nearly three full months of no game postponements in the North Divison, things have changed. The Montreal Canadiens had games postponed last week because Joel Armia and Jesperi Kotkaniemi were placed in Covid-19 protocols. The Canadiens had four games postponed and returned to play yesterday, beating the Edmonton Oilers 4-0. The team they played before the postponements were the Vancouver Canucks.
The rise in North Division postponements correlates with the beginning of the third Covid-19 wave in Canada. Health officials are concerned because more people are being infected with variants. Two days ago, British Columbia has implemented harsher restrictions on indoor dining and gym use for three weeks. On Wednesday, they hit a record high of new Covid cases at 1,013. Ontario is also having a difficult time with the virus as they now have the highest number of ICU admissions since the pandemic started.
What This Means for the Future
The rise of Covid numbers in Canada is not good news for the league or the country. For NHL purposes, it could mean harsher restrictions for players and possibly more postponements.
It is worrying that the last team Montreal played before being shut down was Vancouver. If there was a spread of the virus between teams, it would cause a serious problem in the division because Vancouver has played the Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers since then, who have both played the Toronto Maple Leafs. It can spread quickly. However, that game happened 11 days ago, and Vancouver’s cases are starting to come to light now, so odds are more in favour it was contracted after the Canadiens game.
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