The NHL contemplating pausing the season
The majority of NHL games, including all of the Leafs games and cross-border games have been canceled until at least after the holiday break. According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff "there has been conversation of a league-wide shutdown effective tomorrow."
As of right now nothing has been finalized in regards to a shutdown but many different options are on the table. We have seen many teams shutdown because of COVID-19 before the holidays. That has not been the case for everyone however and there are currently 7 games remaining before the break.
Teams such as the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights currently do not have any COVID-19 cases and want to play. Meanwhile, per Seravalli; the New Jersey Devils have requested for their game tomorrow to be postponed because of the amount of sick players and lack of reinforcements.
It is clear that what the NHL is doing is not working and they need to change how they are handling these outbreaks. Whether that is by going with a similar approach that the NFL is with vaccinated players, reinstating the taxi squad, or pausing the league. There is a clear need to act on these rising cases in the NHL.
Until we know for sure what happens with the NHL all we can hope for is that the players and staff remain healthy and can enjoy the holidays with their families. Hopefully there is not a need for a pause and we can finish this season safely and with teams at full health.
