The Vancouver Canucks return to game action was delayed by NHL on Thursday.
Vancouver will not play home games scheduled against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday as scheduled.
They were to be Vancouver’s first games since March 24 following a COVID-19 outbreak within the team that had 22 players test positive for the coronavirus.
“The decision to extend the period prior to the team’s resumption of play was made to provide club staff and players with additional time for recovery and preparation following its recent COVID outbreak,” the NHL said in a statement. “The NHL made the decision with input from the League’s, NHLPA’s and club’s medical groups.”
The Canucks practiced Thursday for the first time since their season was paused March 31. On Monday, 10 players skated in their first activity since the pause.
Vancouver forward J.T. Miller on Wednesday expressed concern that the Canucks were being made to play too soon, after one practice, after many of their players had been ill.
“Maybe you would feel better after three practices, but I think it’s going to hard either way,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said Thursday. “The situation has put them in a difficult spot, but they’re going to need to get in and play games eventually. When that is, is out of our control. You obviously feel for them in this situation and you hope that they’re feeling well, their families are feeling well, and no one is affected by it long term.”
Vancouver had seven players on the protocol list Wednesday, down from 16 on Tuesday and a high of 19 last week.
“I think it’s kind of crazy,” Miller said Wednesday. “I know that everybody’s got a job to do, but to expect pretty much our entire team to be ready to play [with] one practice and a pregame skate is a little bit hard to comprehend.”
The Canucks had been scheduled to play 19 games in 31 days to finish the 56-game regular season.
“I think in a busy month in a regular season, you might play 15, 16 games,” McDavid said. “So throw in three more in there is obviously a lot to ask. But these are different times, the games need to get played. But health and safety is the first priority, and you have to take care of that first.”
The schedule for the Scotia North Division was extended to May 16 to accommodate the remaining Canucks games. The NHL regular season was originally scheduled to end May 8 and had been extended to May 11.
Vancouver had eight games previously postponed during this outbreak. The NHL said it is expected a revised schedule will be released Friday.
“I’d never thought I’d be in this scenario in my career,” Miller said. “It’s going to be a start of a really long stretch, short but hard stretch at the end of the year here. A reaction? I don’t know. It’s not ideal, obviously, for anybody, but we have a job to do, I guess.”
Edmonton is scheduled to play at the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.
“Obviously health and safety is everyone’s first priority,” McDavid said. “Almost all of [the Canucks] had [COVID-19]. It’s obviously a very dangerous situation and we’re hopeful that they can come out of it and everyone can be healthy and fit to play at some point. Whether that’s tomorrow or not, that’s out of our control.”
Vancouver (16-18-3) is sixth in the seven-team North Division, 10 points behind the fourth-place Montreal Canadiens. Edmonton (25-15-2) is third, 11 points ahead of the fifth-place Calgary Flames. The top four teams will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“It’s tough to really feel bad for ourselves,” McDavid said. “There are people that aren’t even allowed to go to work and aren’t allowed to go to school and do all the things they would normally do. We’re obviously very fortunate to be able to come into work and to get to live a fairly normal life. So I think it would be hard for us to sit here and complain about some scheduling issues.”
There had been 50 games postponed because of COVID-19 protocol since the NHL season began Jan. 13.
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