Photo: NHL.com
According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, 16 players and three coaches from the Vancouver Canucks are on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol as of 5 PM ET on Saturday. Both of their goalies, Thatcher Demko and Braden Holtby, are among the 16.
Via sources, here is the latest on the Canucks outbreak. Again, hockey is secondary.
There are 16 players and three coaches currently affected but that list is likely to grow.
More developments ⤵️@TSNHockey @TheAthletic pic.twitter.com/sAoh5ghJUc— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 3, 2021
It is known that center Adam Gaudette and defenseman Travis Hamonic have both tested positive for COVID-19.
Center Travis Boyd, defenseman Alex Edler, center Jayce Hawyrlchuk, captain Bo Horvat, defenseman Quinn Hughes, forward Zack MacEwen, forward Tyler Motte, defenseman Tyler Myers, forward Antoine Roussel, and forward Brandon Sutter are the other players on protocol. This is the biggest COVID-19 outbreaks that the NHL has seen within a team this season.
The Devils went 15 days in between games during their COVID-19 pause.
It was reported that the Brazilian strain of COVID-19 is involved in the Canucks’ virus outbreak.
Boyd is on protocol after being claimed off of waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 22 and needs to self-quarantine before becoming available.
The team has not played since March 24, a 5-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, and will not play again until at least Thursday, April 8 at the Calgary Flames. The NHL will have to reschedule at least four Canucks games and have a week in between the end of the regular season and the start of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs as a block to make up postponed games.
The Canucks enter Saturday six points behind the Montreal Canadiens for fourth place in the North Division standings, though the Canadiens four three games in hand on them. They are currently tied with the Flames for fifth and have a game in hand of them.
Holtby signed with the Canucks as an unrestricted free agent on October 9 after 12 seasons in the Washington Capitals organization and backstopping them to their first Stanley Cup in 2018.
Should also add, the NHL plans on sending out a memo to all 31 clubs this weekend just as a reminder to stay vigilant and continue to follow protocols, etc.
No reason to believe the league has any issue with what the Canucks did, just using the opportunity to remind everyone— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 3, 2021
By Harrison Brown
