The Bruins might be shutting down operations through the Christmas break, but there are still plenty of uncertain times ahead as the B’s — and the NHL as a whole — try to navigate through some choppy waters in the coming weeks.
Don Sweeney chatted with the media on Saturday night in order to provide some updates on the Bruins’ current situation — and the number of challenges that lie ahead.
Here are eight takeaways from Sweeney’s Zoom call:
1. Majority of Bruins’ positive cases “mild”
Even though Saturday brought news of two more positive cases in Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar — growing the list of affected Bruins to nine total players and two staff members — Sweeney did note that the B’s have been able to duck any serious cases.
"The vast majority of the players have had some mild symptoms — some have had zero," Sweeney said. "I think one player had a day where he felt probably a little more under the weather than he had previously with mild (symptoms), so maybe I'd call it moderate. The two staff members are doing OK, they might have moderate (symptoms). But for the most part, everybody is doing relatively well and trending in the right direction."
2. Bruins trailing other NHL teams in booster shots
The Bruins, like many other clubs, entered the 2021-22 season with a 100% vaccinated rate among players, coaches and staff.
But when it comes to booster shots? Well, the Bruins have left a lot to be desired.
"The booster shot has been made available to all the players,” Sweeney said. “Again, personal preference as to when and if they decide to take it. We're on the lower end side percentage-wise at this point in time. My belief is that may change in the coming days. But I don't have a hard number for you right now, but it's on the lower side at this juncture."
Even though booster shots are not mandated by the NHL, one has to imagine that the Bruins are going to use this extended break to get another jab in an effort to curtail this spread — and limit the potential of any mild or moderate cases.
3. Could NHL follow NFL’s lead with testing changes?
As of now, the NHL’s strategy when it comes to addressing this latest COVID surge is more testing and instilling new protocols that bear plenty of resemblance to the measures put in place during the 2020-21 campaign.
Daily COVID testing for all members of a team’s traveling party. N95 masks during travel and in team facilities. Restrictions on indoor dining — and plenty more.
And while these enhanced protocols remain in effect through Jan. 7, there has been plenty of discourse on Saturday about whether or not the NHL needs to augment their testing protocols in order to curb any more extended shutdowns.
The NFL appears to be leading the charge when it comes to easing testing protocols — announcing on Saturday that it will stop mandating weekly COVID-19 tests for asymptomatic vaccinated players.
It wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if other pro athletes agreed to such a drastic change in testing procedures — with Detroit Red Wings executive vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman openly questioning the NHL’s stance on testing asymptomatic players during his media availability on Saturday.
"I really don't know what the right thing is,” Yzerman said. “At the end of the day, I think — and now I'm getting political — but at the end of the day our players are testing positive with very little symptoms, if any symptoms at all."
"I don’t see it as a threat to their health at this point. I think you might take it a step further and question why are we even testing, for guys that have no symptoms."
“I think (the NHL is) trying to be responsible, taking the integrity of each game into account as well,” Yzerman added, per The Detroit News’ Steve Kornacki. “The reality is we want to play these games, and you weigh off playing them now with a depleted roster versus packing these games in towards the end of the schedule. Every team affected has done everything they can to keep playing, and I’m OK with that.”
While Sweeney noted that overall testing measures in place could change, the overall situation remains fluid as the NHL and health officials try to play catch-up against a rapidly-changing virus.
"The protocols were put in place based on previous examples of players and the recovery period and cardiac screenings that were associated with that,” Sweeney said. “I think we are seeing some evolvement in terms of different sports and how they're handling return to play with regards to players and whether or not you can test out or whether it's just symptomatic, what the course of the spread is.
"Will it continue to change or evolve? I believe it may, but again it's going to be based on what the medical advice says in conjunction with the knowledge we're learning as to how healthier people, fully vaccinated people do react to different variants as well. I think it was different in the sense of how COVID originated with us as a society and how everyone reacted and then the Delta variant, now the Omicron variant.
"I think it's a moving target to some degree and the medical people are doing the absolute best they can, again from a healthy and quality of life standpoint."
4. Don’t expect much in terms of a roster turnover over the next week-plus
It looks like Jake DeBrusk won’t get his Christmas wish of suiting up for another team any time soon.
While the Bruins and every other team will adhere to the NHL’s annual roster freeze around the Christmas break (starting 11:59 p.m. on 12/19 - ending at 12:01 a.m. on 12/28), Sweeney also added that the Bruins may be hesitant about pulling the trigger on a move such as a DeBrusk deal given the potential for further roster limitations in the days following the B’s resumption of play.
Whether that be border issues with treks up to Canada, extended quarantine measures (Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar will not be eligible to return until 12/28) or the potential for more positive results, the Bruins are not necessarily in a position where they can subtract NHLers from the roster in short order.
"We're still continuing to talk,” Sweeney said. “But you can imagine, the entire league is a little bit handcuffed. And we have the roster freeze coming up. That's probably gonna put us in a situation that communication can continue but you can't really do anything until you come out of it.
"Obviously, we're reacting to where our team is gonna be coming out of the break and trying to prepare for that and seeing who's gonna be healthy and recovered. The schedule we have a game we're gonna have to go to Canada for. Some players will not be able to travel there.
"We still have some things to maneuver through. We'll wait to see what the league's positions are and we'll prepare to play coming out of the break and hopefully take this pause where things turn in the right direction and we get everybody back and healthy and we stay that way."
5. Sweeney has no qualms with Thursday’s game against Islanders
While postponing Boston’s four games through the Christmas break was a prudent move given the number of positive tests (and a major break for a B’s team mired in mediocrity without guys like Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand in the lineup), the case could have been made that the Bruins shouldn’t have played on Thursday night against the Islanders, either.
After all, the Bruins were limited to just 11 forwards and 17 total skaters after Oskar Steen was pulled from the lineup just 30 minutes ahead of puck drop — and Boston was unable to have additional reinforcements on the roster due to cap constraints.
But even though the shorthanded B’s stumbled through an eventual 3-1 defeat, Sweeney noted that both he and the team didn’t have any issues with the NHL opting to keep that game on the docket, even with the worsening circumstances.
"No, in all honesty, I believe we should have been playing that game along the same lines of several other teams that have gone through similar circumstances,” Sweeney said. “We played one short because we had a test come back positive while we had arrived. That's just what you're up against. I do believe they made the right decision in having us play that game."
6. Bruins will likely be sloppy out of the gate
If the Bruins do in fact resume play with their next scheduled contest on 12/27 against the Penguins (and that’s a big IF), the B's are going to have their work cut out for them when it comes to shaking off the sizable amount of rust formed over such an extended break from on-ice work.
Yes, the B’s will benefit from having guys like Marchand and Bergeron back in the fold — and they’re pretty used to extended stretches between games due to their awful stop-and-start schedule to open the year — but Boston will likely not be able to take to the ice in a practice setting until potentially the morning of that scheduled game against Pittsburgh.
Aside from a case-by-case basis when it comes to rehabbing from injury, Bruins players will not have access to Warrior Ice Arena throughout this lengthy break.
"From a practice standpoint, we do not have access until the league gives us allowances to have people in and maybe it comes back in smaller groups," Sweeney said. "We've gone through that before in pods. But we will take our direction from the league as they see fit and we move towards next week. We have to test every day now with our players right up until the holiday period comes in … and then we go from there.
"It will be challenging to think that a player will be off the ice arguably from, in a couple players' cases, the 12th, 13th, and then actually having conceivably a morning skate on the 27th and playing a game that night. Again, we just have to navigate as the league sets forth and move on from there.
"Players that are healthy, they're subject to the enhanced protocols and such. And we'll try to do things. Some guys took home gym equipment today to be able to do things at home and do what they can to stay in shape."
7. As such, BOS/PIT could be a candidate for postponement
Given those factors regarding the Bruins’ long time off and the resulting holiday break, Sweeney acknowledged that the B’s 12/27 game against the Penguins could be pushed back as well.
"I think you have to understand what the level playing field is for everyone across the league and make the best decisions in that sense,” Sweeney said. “Some teams are playing tonight because they're able to field their rosters and that may be no different than coming out of the break. We'll be obligated to fill our roster and play the game if it's on. Just like we did the other night with the Islanders. It's our job as managers and coaches to get the players that are available to us in a position that they can play and perform and hopefully be successful."
8. Bruins intend on finishing out a hectic stretch of the season
When it comes to the fallout from these multiple COVID outbreaks and the subsequent shutdowns across the league, perhaps the most uncertain consequence is what to make of a schedule that was already crammed for Boston down the final stretch of the 2021-22 regular season.
As of right now, there will be 103 days left in the NHL season when the Bruins finally resume play on 12/27. And Boston will have 56 games left to play during that stretch. That’s a brutal sprint to the finish line — ahead of another potential gauntlet in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
At this stage, it’s anyone’s guess how the NHL manages to cut down that workload — be it extending the regular season into May, canceling the Olympic break (more on that in a minute) or another schedule re-shuffle.
But regardless of the hurdles and headaches that come with this latest COVID surge, Sweeney expects the Bruins to see this full 82-game schedule through — in whatever capacity must be adopted in order to get these games in.
"[It's about] what's best for us to accomplish what we want and that's to keep the players healthy and play a full season and have a full Stanley Cup Playoffs. That's where we have to be focused,” Sweeney said. “It may take periods like we're in right now where we have to step back and then hopefully get back into full swing. But that's up to the league with how we navigate and if we have to extend or where and how we can get the games in.
"Our intention is to play a full season and follow best practices. I believe that will take some adaptability on everybody's part because I think it will continue to change and evolve depending on where we go both as a society and our own individual sport."
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Players torn, but the Olympics seem like a non-starter at this point
Even with all of the COVID-related complications that have sprouted up over the last few weeks — it’s to be expected that a slew of players across the NHL are far from thrilled with the growing reality that a trek to Beijing for the 2022 Olympics is slipping out of reach.
Long before this latest COVID outbreak forced five teams into an extended shutdown, Bergeron acknowledged the potential risks that would come with flying overseas to China.
At the time Olympics questions were posed to Bergeron on Tuesday morning, the primary concern with shipping the NHL’s brightest stars to China centered on the restrictive quarantine measures in place if an athlete tests positive in Beijing — with reports last week noting that a positive result could lead to a mandated quarantine in China for three to five weeks.
In a perfect situation, plenty of Bruins would be making the trek to the Olympics — many for the first time. Brad Marchand would finally get his spot on an Olympic roster, while fellow stars in Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak would also make their debuts in the international event.
Other B’s players like Linus Ullmark and Jakub Zboril could be dark-horse candidates for their respective countries. And both Don Sweeney and Bruce Cassidy are slated to serve on Team Canada’s management and coaching staff, respectively.
But even a player with two Olympic gold medals already on his resume in Bergeron can’t wait for another chance to represent his home country in such a tournament — and will be torn if that opportunity no longer presents itself.
"I think first and foremost for me, the last few Olympics were special events, and I have amazing memories of it and it's something I'll cherish forever in my life,” Bergeron said. “Obviously, as an athlete, you want to compete against the best. And if you do have that opportunity, obviously you want to represent your country. It is concerning, that you hear about 3-5 week quarantines and having to stay back and stay in China. So I think there's a lot of questions right now that need to be answered.
“And that's how I feel about it. Obviously, as an athlete, you're torn, because you want to be there — as I said, the biggest sports event in the world. That being said, it's a different situation, a different year. ... You want to make sure you have all the answers before I can really answer that question.”
Of course, even though the NHL has put the ball in the players’ court when it comes to deciding whether or not to head over to China, the league may not be in such a position to defer now — not with all of these postponements on the schedule over the next few weeks.
At this point, the logical move would be for the NHL to shutter plans for Olympic participation — much to the chagrin of some players — and use that planned three-week break in February to fill out the rest of the schedule and make room for these postponed games (more of which could be on the way).
The NHL planned for such a contingency back in the summer when it announced a backup schedule that would be implemented in case Olympics participation was scrubbed — but those plans have also been hampered due to a myriad of other factors.
Even though the NHL implored venues to keep some of those dates open in February in case those Olympic plans fell through — most opted for the financial incentive of scheduling shows and other events to fill up that void. Hardly a surprise.
As a result, even if the NHL canned Olympic participation, there’s no guarantee that teams will have the runway to fill in games during that February break.
Look no further than TD Garden’s docket in February:
Is it doable to fit in some home games here or there? Certainly.
But there are plenty of arenas with even more backloaded schedules than TD Garden — creating a massive headache for teams looking to find a way to spread out their hectic schedules.
If the resumption of regular-season games during the Olympic break is not possible, there has been some chatter about potentially shifting the hockey portion of the 2022 Olympics to North America — lessening concerns about quarantine restrictions and allowing the top players in the world to participate in potentially full arenas, no less.
However, with some of the pomp of the Olympics lost in a tournament taking place far from the host city, Cassidy noted that augmenting such a sporting event does have its drawbacks.
“I have never been to the Olympics, I have been to a World Junior Championship, where you're with other countries. Bergy would better be able to answer that, players that have been there,” Cassidy said of whether or not a North American tournament would be less appealing. “I think that is part of the memories you create for yourself and your teammates and your country — is being at the opening ceremonies, closing ceremonies, wrapped in your country's flag. If you win, the national anthem — all those things, no matter where you are, are a big part of the Olympics.
“Obviously the gold medal and the memories of playing are there — but it's the whole environment. So yes, I believe you would lose some of that and it would just become another tournament, so to speak. That's just my gut feeling. And seeing athletes from all the other countries is part of, I think, what makes it great. It's a worldwide event. And it always has been a global event. And that's part of it you don't want to lose.”
Be it the players and coaches likely losing out on a life-long dream — or the NHL schedule-makers ripping their hair out — it sure seems like all parties are stuck in a lose-lose situation as far as the Olympics are concerned.