The NHL will announce a league-wide shutdown for Wednesday through Christmas Day, including games and practices, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.
It’s the latest measure taken to help stem the drastic spread of COVID-19.
Players will return to facilities for testing on Dec. 26 — one day earlier than scheduled.
The move will result in the postponements of five more games — all scheduled for Thursday.
Previous postponements already had eliminated Wednesday’s four-game schedule — and no games were scheduled to be played from Dec. 24-26.
The decision comes as the number of positive COVID-19 tests among NHL players and personnel have skyrocketed in recent days, a rise that is believed to be driven by the prevalence of the Omicron variant. The league had already postponed all games before the break involving cross-border travel.
Games that featured the Boston Bruins, Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, Calgary Flames and Detroit Red Wings — some of the clubs which have been hit hardest by the virus — had also previously been postponed.
Research on Omicron is evolving as sample sizes grow, but what has been observed in studies so far indicates it is highly transmissible and less susceptible to vaccines than other variants of the coronavirus, leading to the influx of breakthrough cases — infections among vaccinated peoples — in populations that have high vaccination rates like the NHL and NBA.
The NHL traditionally takes a three-day break for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and returns to action with a full slate of games on Dec. 27. There was no immediate word on when the postponed games will be rescheduled.
Rescheduling some of the games for the Olympic break in February — should NHL players not go, a move that has become increasingly likely given the daily surge in COVID infections and additional postponements — is possible in some buildings but not others, as some buildings have previously booked those dates for other events.
