Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
COVID-19 cluster postpones pair of Flyers-Devils games
Not playing in a “bubble” this season is having an increasingly negative impact on the NHL. As much as Gary Bettman and Co. patted themselves on the back late last summer for a Stanley Cup tournament that they claimed didn’t incur any positive COVID tests, trying to do the same through a semi-regular season, even with limited travel, has not stemmed a virus tide.
While teams across the league, including the Flyers, have seen COVID-19’s impact, the New Jersey Devils are feeling the weight of it now, with as many as 17 players on the COVID list late last week, including rookie standout Jack Hughes and top-line star Taylor
Hall.
The Buffalo Sabres are also dealing with players on the COVID list and haven’t played since, not so coincidentally, a game against the Devils on Jan. 31. Other teams have been similarly impacted this week. And things aren’t getting better fast for the Devils, as their scheduled games of Thursday and Saturday this week against the Flyers have been postponed.
The Flyers are not scheduled to play again until Sunday evening at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers. That Valentine’s Day matchup was moved up from its original Feb. 16 date. After that Valentine’s game the Flyers will next cuddle up with the Rangers on the following Thursday, leaving a few days for perhaps at least one of the Devils games to be played.
Of course, that’s just healthy speculation at this point.
“It is what it is, and you’ve got to deal with it,” Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said Monday about playing in a pandemic. Doing so has also impacted the Flyers from a personnel standpoint, with Shayne Gostisbehere at the start of the season, and now fellow defenseman Travis Sanheim, sidelined due to COVID protocols.
Gostisbehere is healthy again and playing that way, while Sanheim’s situation is unclear, with Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher reportedly indicating he might be listed as day-to-day.
“That’s all we can say,” Vigneault sort of said Monday.
The Sanheim shutdown apparently came Saturday while the team was in Washington, forcing the Flyers to undergo a team-wide rapid testing program early Sunday, ahead of a noon start against the Capitals. That forced a 6:15 a.m. wakeup call, according to Vigneault.
“We didn’t know going to bed (the previous night) we’d have to do that,” the coach said. “Everybody had wakeup calls at 6:15 in the morning ... to come down to get rapid testing and to take our normal COVID testing. We had to do it earlier than expected but it is what it is and you have to deal with it.”
That probably didn’t sit well with some of the younger players. As Travis Konecny, 23, put it: “I think in the first couple of minutes (of the game), there was some waking up that needed to be done. It was an early morning wakeup, so we got the rust
out and then started playing.”
Indeed, the Flyers fell behind early as Alex Ovechkin went nuts for a while. But the Flyers got better as the day went on, and after dominating the third period, they emerged with a 7-4 win.
You can presume they slept soundly on the trip home.
“I think it’s the first time, at least in the NHL, that I’ve ever been up at 6:15 for a hockey game,” Konecny said. “Obviously, things are a little bit different this year, and we’re not the only team going through
some of these tests and protocols and stuff, so there’s no excuses. But definitely. a new experience.”
Philosophical as ever, 35-year-old goalie Brian Elliott added, “It was an early game and so a lot of us were getting up at a similar hour. So I don’t think it was that crazy of a wakeup for most guys. It’s unique, but you’ve got to roll with the punches a little bit. If you get hung up on those little things and let those things bother you, that’s the wrong path to go down.”