NHL to Shutdown from Wednesday thru Christmas Break [Report]

As reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman just over an hour ago, the NHL is shutting down play league-wide from this coming Wednesday through Christmas Day. That shutdown includes all games and team practices.

Hearing NHL/NHLPA will agree to pause season Wednesday through Christmas Day. Players will return to team facilities on 26th — one day earlier than usual — so that testing can be resumed.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) December 21, 2021

Right Now: Players Will Return on December 26

As it stands right now – and I’ll stress “right now” – NHL players will return to their facilities for testing on December 26. That’s one day ahead of what had been scheduled earlier.

The move to shut things down completely has resulted in five additional games being postponed. These were the five games that were scheduled for this coming Thursday. Already the entire four-game schedule for Wednesday had been postponed. There will be – again so far – two games to be played tomorrow on Tuesday.

COVID-19 Is Too Scary to Taunt

Really, the decision was a no-brainer after the alarming number of positive COVID-19 tests in NHL players and staff. Many teams have had to shut things down completely because of the skyrocketing number of cases diagnosed during recent days.

That drastically quick rise is correlated with the emergence and the prevalence of the highly-infectious Omicron variant. Just two days ago, the NHL postponed all NHL games that included cross-border travel.

Don’t Bet on NHL Players Going to the Olympics

Over the past week or so, there have been discussions about whether the Olympic Games were a good idea for NHL players. This round of postponements just nudges the decision in favor of NOT heading to the Olympics in February.

First, there’s the danger of being far away from home and becoming ill. Second, now there’s the pragmatics and possibility of using that time to make up games that have been postponed over the past week of so during what would have been an Olympic Break.

Here’s How Scary the Virus Has Become

Right now, more than 15 percent of the NHL’s’s more than 700 players are in virus protocol. That’s an astounding number, considering most have been double-vaccinated.

Be careful and stay well.