Rescheduling games last resort for NHL
COVID OUTBREAKS HAVE PUT SOME TEAMS AT A DISADVANTAGE AND MAY COST THEM THE SEASON
It’s the kind of mathematical equation that you can’t exactly plug into a calculator.
When deciding when to postpone games due to a COVID-19 outbreak, the NHL takes into account three specific factors: the total number of players on the team who have been infected by the virus, the medical assessment in regard to the cause of exposure, and the continued risk of transmission.
Add them all up together and — under the guise of medical experts — you could see a team take some time off while its players are quarantined.
Then again, you probably won’t.
While postponements were the norm during last year’s condensed 56-game season, they have been the exception as the league attempts a return to normalcy. That doesn’t mean that players aren’t landing on the COVID-19 protocol list these days. Or that teams aren’t being forced to play short-handed.
It’s just that with an Allstar Game and an Olympic break already stretching the regular season schedule to its limits, rescheduling games is being viewed as an absolute last resort.
“It’s a case-by-case determination based on the totality of the circumstances,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in an email to Postmedia on Wednesday. “But most importantly, based on the best information we get from the NHL/ NHLPA medical experts.”
A week ago, the Ottawa Senators had three of their games postponed after a COVID-19 outbreak infected 10 players and an assistant coach. But the league refused to step in and do the same earlier this month after the Pittsburgh Penguins lost the services of not only Sidney Crosby and head coach Mike Sullivan due to positive tests, but also had as many as seven other players missing from the lineup since training camp opened.
Which brings us to the New York Islanders, who continually lose games and players at an alarming rate due to circumstances that are out of their control.
Heading into Wednesday’s game against the New York Rangers, seven players had tested positive for COVID-19. That included captain Anders Lee, top-line winger Josh Bailey and half of the team’s defence. And yet, being without a third of their lineup was still not enough for the NHL to give them a much-needed break.
“I have no knowledge of what the threshold is,” Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello told reporters on Tuesday. “I believe that’s in the hands of the doctors both in the National Hockey League and the Players’ Association and the infectious disease people . ... I’ve asked the question but I don’t know if there is (an exact number that would cause a postponement).”
There is no threshold. No exact number. Instead, it’s a case-by-case scenario that is determined by the league, the NHL player’s union and medical experts. And it is far from perfect — or fair, for that matter.
No one wants to see a playoff spot determined by pandemic-related absences or a repeat of last year, when the Vancouver Canucks returned from a three-week quarantine and were forced to play the remaining 19 games of their schedule in 31 days. But as it stands, there are teams that are at a competitive disadvantage. And it could cost them the season.
What we’re seeing now is affecting the standings in a way that might be permanent. It’s not a coincidence that three of the six-worst teams in the Eastern Conference have been hit the hardest by positive cases.
Sure, the Senators were probably going to be at the bottom, no matter what. But the Penguins and Islanders were both expected to make the playoffs. That might no longer be the case.
“We’ll continue to do what we have control of. You can’t deal with things that are out of your hand,” Lamoriello said. “Certainly these are difficult times, but we will stay focused on the players we have, what our abilities are to replace players if necessary and just stay as positive as we possibly can.”
The NHL no longer publicizes the daily list of those in COVID-19 protocol. But that doesn’t mean the cases have subsided. Despite having a league that is practically fully vaccinated — Detroit’s Tyler Bertuzzi remains the lone holdout — the pandemic continues to take down players.
Every day, there are new players who have been infected. Most are asymptomatic. And yet, the NHL is still surprised by the rate of infection.
“The number of positive cases is more extensive than we originally anticipated,” said Daly, “but the nature of the cases we are seeing are generally less serious than they were last year, which is obviously a testament to the vaccine.”
When asked if the All-star Game could be in jeopardy if the cases continue to rise, Daly said, “I wouldn’t rule anything out at this point, although no thought is currently being given to postponing or cancelling the Allstar Game.
“Change of protocols (return to last year’s enhanced measures) is certainly possible, and has already been prescribed in the outbreak situations we have experienced to this point this season.”
It’s another way of saying that the threshold still hasn’t been met.