COVID-19 tests sideline two Canucks

VANCOUVER — Jordie Benn and J.T. Miller now face a lot of anxious waiting — and hoping they don’t develop any symptoms of COVID-19, a disease that has left some healthy young people with some devastating outcomes, including badly scarred lungs and cardiac issues.

The NHL confirmed Wednesday afternoon the two Vancouver Canucks were among 22 players across the league who are unavailable to play because of COVID-19 protocols.

In the case of the two Canucks, they have been ruled out of action for a week or more after a series of COVID19 tests led to Benn being diagnosed as a presumptive positive. And Miller, who has been staying at Benn’s home in recent days, is a close contact, having been within two metres of Benn for at least 15 minutes during a 24-hour period that preceded Benn’s positive test.

The Canucks scrimmaged at Rogers Arena on Saturday night and practised on Friday, but the set-up of the scrimmage, practice and off-ice activities over those two days apparently kept any other player from being classified as a close contact.

Wednesday, before the team’s season opener against the Oilers in Edmonton, Canucks captain Bo Horvat said the news about Miller was yet another wake-up call about how serious the risk of infection is and how stringent the rules governing their behaviours are.

“You can’t be naive, you have to be extra careful,” he said. “Wear your mask everywhere. … You have to follow the protocols because nobody is invincible.”

Since the beginning of training camp, the Canucks players have been tested daily, using the standard PCR noseswab test. (They’ll continue to be tested daily during the season.) Benn tested positive Sunday morning but a confirmatory test later that day came back negative. That put him into an isolation protocol.