Having four players in COVID protocol complicates travel home for the Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs played just one game of their scheduled 4-game Western road swing, defeating the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 on Tuesday evening, with games against the Flames, Canucks and Kraken on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday being postponed due to COVID-19.
As most of you are aware, John Tavares, Alexander Kerfoot, Wayne Simmonds and Jason Spezza have all been added to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list in the last 24 hours. What you may not know is what the Leafs have to do in order to ensure that the four Leafs in quarantine made it home for the holidays from the West coast.
In accordance with NHL protocol, the Leafs will send its healthy roster home on its standard chartered plane. As for the four players in COVID protocol, the Leafs will be forced to charter a separate plane.
I guess if you're one of the richest franchises in the league, money is no object, and it's certainly nice to know that the team will do what it takes to ensure that Tavares, Spezza, Kerfoot and Simmonds get back to Toronto, so they're not spending Christmas alone in a Vancouver hotel room.
