Knights coach Pete DeBoer; Blackhawks Marc-Andre Fleury; and more on NHL COVID list
Anthony Scultore
|
The NHL COVID list now has well over 150 players and coaches on it. Since re-opening their doors on Sunday for testing before the resumption of the season on December 28th, 64 players have been placed into protocol.
This has caused the postponement of six more games with the possibility of more on the way. In order to combat the increases in positive tests the NHL and NHLPA have made changes to the CBA that includes taxi squads.
Vegas Golden Knights COVID issues
The Vegas Golden Knights announced Monday that head coach Pete DeBoer and forward Brett Howden are in the league’s health and safety protocols.
The Golden Knights have been idle since a 4-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 21, the same day the team added defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and forward Evgenii Dadonov to the COVID-19 protocols.
Vegas is scheduled to resume the season Tuesday night against the Kings in Los Angeles.
DeBoer, 53, is in his third season with the Golden Knights. He owns a career record of 490-360-115 with the Florida Panthers (2008-11), New Jersey Devils (2011-15), San Jose Sharks (2015-20) and Vegas.
Howden, 23, has three goals and five assists in 23 games this season, his first with the Golden Knights.
Marc-Andre Fleury on COVID list
Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has entered the NHL’s health and safety protocols.
“Obviously losing a guy like Fleury, it’s not easy,” coach Derek King said. “But there’s an opportunity for (Kevin Lankinen) to get more games in and step up.”
The team also announced Monday that defenseman Calvin de Haan has been removed from COVID-19 protocols.
The Blackhawks were scheduled to resume the season Wednesday night at Winnipeg but that game has been postponed as well as their matchup against the Avalanche.
Fleury, 37, is 9-10-2 this season with two shutouts, a 2.86 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage.
The three-time Stanley Cup winner earned his 500th career victory on Dec. 9 with a 2-0 win at Montreal.
The 30-year-old de Haan has appeared in 26 games this season but has not registered any points.
More COVID issues
The Montreal Canadiens announced today that five players plus a staff member have been added to the COVID list.
Jake Allen, Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, Jeff Petry and Chris Wideman joined a list that already included Tyler Toffoli, Laurent Dauphin, Mike Hoffman, and Artturi Lehkonen.
Yesterday, the Dallas Stars put Radek Faksa, Miro Heiskanen, Joel Kiviranta, Michael Raffl and Jason Robertson, along with two support staff members, into the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol They joined Jani Hakanpaa, who was on the list earlier.
Further testing today added two more in Roope Hintz and Esa Lindell.
–Field Level Media contributed to this report