The NHL returned to action on Tuesday night with three games on the schedule after taking a break over the past week through the holiday weekend. Even with that return there were still most postponements announced over the new couple of weeks, and not only of them are due to COVID issues within teams.
Attendance restrictions in Canada lead to nine postponed games
Because of attendance restrictions in Canada, particularly in Winnipeg, Montreal, and Ottawa, the NHL announced on Tuesday that nine additional games have been postponed through early January.
That list of games includes....
Friday, Dec. 31
Pittsburgh @ Ottawa
Winnipeg @ Calgary
Monday, Jan. 3
Carolina @ Toronto
Tuesday, Jan. 4
Washington @ Montreal
Thursday, Jan. 6
Toronto @ Montreal
Saturday, Jan. 8
Buffalo @ Montreal
Seattle @ Winnipeg
Monday, Jan. 10
Columbus @ Montreal
Minnesota @ Winnipeg
As with all other postponements, makeup dates for these games have yet to be announced.
In addition to those postponements, the January 12, 2022 game in Montreal between the Canadiens and Boston Bruins has been relocated to Boston. A makeup home game in Montreal between the two teams will be rescheduled at a later date.
Wednesday’s Red Wings-Islanders game also postponed
Along with those postponements, Wednesday’s scheduled game between the Detroit Red Wings and New York Islanders has also been postponed due to COVID related issues for both teams. The Islanders announced on Tuesday that forward Brock Nelson has entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol.
That postponement, combined with the other nine postponements announced on Tuesday due to attendance restrictions, brings the list of postponed games this season to more than 80 games.
Makeup games have yet to be annoounced.
Zegras, Nelson, Brodin among notable players added to protocol on Tuesday; Others leave protocol
As expected, more players were entered into the NHL’s COVID protocol on Tuesday. A quick rundown of the more significant names....
- Trevor Zegras (Anaheim Ducks)
- Jonas Brodin (Minnesota Wild)
- Brock Nelson (New York Islanders)
- Travis Boyd and Matias Maccelli (Arizona Coyotes)
- Darren Helm (Colorado Avalanche)
- Olli Juolevi (Florida Panthers)
While those players entered the protocol, there were also a handful of players to exit the protocol....
- Filip Zadina and Alex Nedeljkovic (Detroit Red Wings)
- Jack Campbell, T.J. Brodie, and Travis Dermott (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks)
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.