In wake of the CDC’s announcement of new protocols regarding quarantine timelines and other COVID-19 measures, the NHL is falling in line with the NFL and NBA when it comes to implementing less-restrictive timelines for players/personnel that test positive for the virus.
According to a league release, these modifications will reduce the isolation period after a positive test from 10 days to five days for fully vaccinated players who meet the required conditions. It also applies to fully vaccinated hockey operations staff, including coaches.
Per the guidelines, if an individual does test positive, they must isolate for five days — and will have to continue to isolate if a fever persists beyond that quarantine timeline.
If the individual has no symptoms or their symptoms are resolving after five days, they can leave isolation and return to practices and games — so long as they submit a negative PCR test and receive medical clearance from their club’s physician.
Even if cleared to return, that individual will continue to always wear a mask around others for five additional days, other than for practices and games.
All things considered, the Bruins have managed to get past the worst of their COVID outbreak — with 10 of the 11 players placed in protocols cleared to return to practice as of Wednesday night.
The lone player stuck on the COVID shelf is Charlie Coyle, who was placed in protocols on Dec. 26. While the previous 10-day quarantine would have sidelined him through next week, there stands a chance that the Weymouth native could be cleared by this weekend if he qualifies under the new protocols in place.
If that was the case, it’d be a major lift for the Bruins, who have rolled out Erik Haula at 2C so far during this week of practice.
"I just found that out myself,” Bruce Cassidy said of the new NHL quarantine protocols and Coyle’s potential availability this weekend. “So I have to get in touch with (Don Sweeney) or (assistant GM) Evan (Gold) upstairs to see if they've contacted them to see if they fall under the old protocol or the new protocol. If that's the case, I believe he tested on the day after Christmas, so we'd get him back, most likely this weekend if it's a new protocol. So it'd be interesting to find out where the players end up on this.”
B’s shuffle up schedule with Montreal
The Bruins might be primed to finally resume play this weekend after getting six straight games postponed, but the impact of COVID — especially north of the border — has continued to jumble up the B’s docket over the next few months.
While the B’s were originally set to battle the Canadiens up in Montreal on Jan. 12, that contest has now been moved to TD Garden — with the switcheroo coming as a result of attendance restrictions in place in Quebec and multiple over Canadiens provinces.
The Bruins were originally set to host the Habs at the Garden on March 21st, but that game will now be replaced by this Jan. 12 meeting — with fans that have purchased tickets for that 3/21 game able to redeem them for this 1/12 showdown.
2022 World Juniors canceled
The ongoing COVID surge has claimed one of the most cherished tournaments in hockey, as the IIHF announced on Wednesday afternoon that the remainder of the 2022 World Junior Hockey Championship in Canada has been canceled due to fears of a larger outbreak.
The United States forfeited its game against Switzerland on Tuesday due to a pair of positive tests. That cancellation was followed by an announcement that Czechia would have to forfeit its game against Finland on Wednesday. The decision to cancel the tournament came after Russia also posted a positive test — which would have necessitated three forfeits in the span of two days.
"Together with the teams, we came into this event with full confidence in the COVID-19 protocols put in place by the IIHF, the LOC, Alberta Health, Alberta Health Services and the Public Health Agency of Canada," IIHF president Luc Tardif said in a statement. "The ongoing spread of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant forced us to readjust our protocols almost immediately upon arrival to attempt to stay ahead of any potential spread. This included daily testing and the team quarantine requirement when positive cases were confirmed.
"We owed it to the participating teams to do our best to create the conditions necessary for this event to work. Unfortunately, this was not enough. We now have to take some time and focus on getting all players and team staff back home safely."
Our staff was very proud and honored to be a part of this group. We are crushed for them. They represented USA the right way and are winners. pic.twitter.com/luDsBzYu0u
— Nate Leaman (@CoachLeaman) December 29, 2021
However, Tardif did note when speaking to reporters later on Wednesday that the IIHF might look at scheduling the 2022 tournament a bit later on in the year. There’s plenty of logistics that need to be sorted out, but here’s hoping that some form of the tournament can come to fruition later in 2022.
The Bruins only had one prospect at the 2022 tournament in 2021 first-round pick Fabian Lysell, but the skilled winger did not make his debut for Team Sweden — missing his team's first (and only) two games of the tournament due to injury/illness.