NHL Morning Coffee Headlines – January 9, 2021
COVID-19 strikes the Stars and Blue Jackets, plus updates on Henrik Lundqvist, Corey Crawford and more in today’s NHL morning coffee headlines.
THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS: The Stars’ training facilities are closed indefinitely and the club’s practices canceled after six players and two staff tested positive for COVID-19. The NHL is revising the Stars’ regular-season schedule with the expectation the club won’t be able to play until Jan. 19 at the earliest. That means their season-opener on Jan. 14 and their following two games (Jan. 15 and Jan. 17) will be rescheduled.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Stars and the league haven’t revealed which players tested positive for the coronavirus. The report noted forwards Jason Robertson, Joel L’Esperance and Tye Felhaber and defensemen Joel Hanley were missing from the Stars’ last practice but it’s unknown if those absences were injury- or illness-related.
While the Stars’ facilities are closed indefinitely they could reopen soon. As the report observed, the St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning had several players test positive before the start of the 2020 playoffs, but their facilities opened several days later.
Despite the NHL’s health and safety protocols, it was inevitable COVID-19 would make its presence felt. Unlike the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, the upcoming regular season isn’t being held in hub cities under strict quarantine conditions.
The coronavirus also affected Major League Baseball and the National Football League this season but those leagues managed to complete their seasons. This outbreak won’t prevent the start of the NHL’s overall schedule, but it means the Stars’ 56-game schedule has become more compressed.
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH: The Blue Jackets yesterday held 17 players out of practice for precautionary reasons. Most were regular roster players, including team captain Nick Foligno, forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand and Max Domi and defensemen Seth Jones, Vladislav Gavrikov and David Savard. The Jackets didn’t indicate if any of the absent players had tested positive for COVID-19.
Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno (NHL Images).
SPECTOR’S NOTE: We’ll find out during this weekend if those players will remain sidelined and if the Jackets will be carrying on with their practice sessions. Their season-opener is Jan. 14. The report observed the Jackets dealt with an outbreak last month during small-group workouts that closed their practice facilities for a week.
NHL.COM: Henrik Lundqvist took to social media on Friday to report he is recovering well from his recent five-hour open-heart surgery. Lundqvist had signed with the Washington Capitals but his heart condition sidelined him for the entire season.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Best wishes to King Henrik for a swift and full recovery.
NJ.COM: Corey Crawford is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the New Jersey Devils for personal reasons. The 36-year-old goalie signed a two-year deal with the Devils in October. There’s no timeline for his return. The Devils are expected to turn to Scott Wedgewood as Mackenzie Blackwood’s backup.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Here’s hoping things are okay for Crawford and his family and he returns to action soon.
WGR 550: The Buffalo Sabres signed center Riley Sheahan to a one-year, $700K contract. Sheahan was attending Sabres’ training camp on a professional tryout offer.
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER: Anaheim Ducks defenseman Brendan Guhle suffered a sprained right knee during a collision with another player. He’ll be sidelined for six weeks.
CAP FRIENDLY: Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, New York Rangers blueliner Adam Fox, Pittsburgh Penguins rearguard John Marino, Washington Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov and Ottawa Senators winger Brady Tkachuk are among several players within five games of losing their waiver-exempt status.
ESPN.COM: Long-time Pittsburgh Penguins play-by-play man Mike Lange, 72, is sitting out the start of the 2020-21 season as a precaution due to COVID-19.
TSN: The province of Manitoba has given approval for the Winnipeg Jets to stage games in their home arena.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: All seven Canadian teams have the approval of their respective provinces to play in their home cities this season.
THE MERCURY NEWS: Growing number of COVID-19 cases in California’s Santa Clara County is casting doubt on whether the San Jose Sharks can return to the SAP Center early next month as scheduled. The Sharks are starting the season on the road because of the county’s current restrictions on sporting events.
Mike Lange is one the best of all-time … and I hope the Devils aren’t paying Crawford for suddenly bailing …
Manitoba approved the Jets while keeping code red for another 2 weeks. Linking 355 cases to Xmas gathering.
As I said numerous times the government wasn’t going to stop folks from gathering.
The federal government estimated 50% of the population gather over Christmas. Not sure where they got their numbers because in my neighborhood it was extremely quiet.
Last note to clarify we did curbside pickup for our girls. Just because I posted there would be gatherings, it wasn’t to imply I be one of them. Just a realist.
Wondering how postponing games will work in the NHL? I thought each team would be required to compete in each scheduled game with the healthy players available. If you can’t put a team on the ice, then you forfeit the game. Rescheduling is MUCH easier when there are no fans but not fair to the opposing team. Why should the opposing team have their schedule even more compacted just because the opposing team has players with Covid?
Wonder if players are really doing EVERYTHING possible and taking ALL precautions to avoid Covid???
At some point, teams could be affected by Covid to the point where they may be required to forfeit games, forfeit the season or maybe the NHL will call off the remainder of the season. Don’t say it can’t happen – if every team has so many players affected that they can’t put a team on the ice, what are the options?
NCAA football and the NFL has had to deal with these same situations and handled them similarly to the NHL. I agree with your opinion. Apparently major sports leagues in the US and Canada do not.