LIVE BLOG: Tracking day three of the NHL’s spike in COVID cases
UPDATE: 8:30 p.m. est — Wow, what a past few hours.
Before the games got underway, the New Jersey Devils announced they added Jesper Boqvist to COVID-19 protocols.
The Colorado Avalanche, with time to spare, announced that Andre Burakovsky and J.T. Compher to the protocols. Then, right before the game, they announced both Cale Makar and Darcy Kuemper would be added to the protocols.
Their game against the already depleted Nashville Predators began, and the Avalanche are playing with 10 forwards, five defencemen and one goaltender.
UPDATE: 5:20 p.m. est — The Florida Panthers have added defenceman Aaron Ekblad and Frank Vatrano to COVID-19 protocols.
#FlaPanthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad and forward Frank Vatrano have entered COVID-19 protocols and are unavailable for tonight’s game.
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) December 16, 2021UPDATE: 4:30 p.m. est — The L.A. Kings have added defenseman Drew Doughty to the COVID-19 protocols list.
The @LAKings have made the following player transactions:
Forward Andreas Athanasiou has been placed on injured reserve (retroactive to Dec. 14).
Defenseman Drew Doughty has been placed on the non-roster/COVID-19 list.
UPDATE: 2:45 p.m. est — The Arizona Coyotes announced that Lawson Crouse and Jay Beagle have been placed in protocol. The Coyotes lost 3-2 to the New York Rangers on Wednesday night and are scheduled to play the Ducks in Anaheim on Friday.
UPDATE: Coyotes forwards Lawson Crouse and Jay Beagle have been placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
— Arizona Coyotes PR (@AZCoyotesPR) December 16, 2021UPDATE: 2:10 p.m. est — Hours after Cousins tweeted his concerns about COVID-19, he has entered protocols.
Calgary Flames also added two more to the protocols in Dillon Dube and Oliver Kylington.
ORIGINAL:
It’s been a tumultuous few days around the NHL.
Teams across the league have dozens of players and coaches entering protocols and a handful of games have been postponed. It’s been head manned by the Calgary Flames, who have virtually their entire team in protocols.
The outbreak took hold Tuesday, and more and more players were added to protocols Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, the Edmonton Oilers placed Devin Shore into protocols. The Bruins also added Anton Bildh, Trent Frederic, Jeremy Swayman and a member of the team staff into protocols.
The concern around the NHL is growing, and Nashville Predators forward Nick Cousins spoke out publicly about it on Twitter.
Pause the season until after Christmas ? This is ridiculous https://t.co/4Lyekdd906
— Nick Cousins (@Cous27) December 16, 2021We’ll continue to monitor things as they happen Thursday.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@oilersnation.com.