With the latest wave of COVID-19 hitting the sports world with a vengeance, the NHL dealt with an uncomfortable pandemic-related occurrence midgame Tuesday night.
Vancouver defenseman Tucker Poolman was removed from the Canucks’ game against the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets late in the first period and was immediately placed in the NHL’s COVID protocol.
The game continued.
Poolman was the fourth Canuck to land in the COVID protocol on Tuesday. Early in the day, forward Juho Lammikko and defenseman Luke Schenn were ruled out of the contest, and defenseman Brad Hunt was scratched shortly before the opening puck drop.
The (Vancouver) Province newspaper reported that all four players tested positive for COVID-19.
After the first two players were scratched, interim Canucks general manager Jim Rutherford said, “We follow the protocols that are laid out by the league and by the province and try to do the best we can. But the one thing we can do as individuals within the Canucks with the players is to remind everybody what the protocols are.
“Well, we live in a different world and we all have to make adjustments to it. And we’ll adjust to this situation. But the Canucks have experienced this before, last year, and it’s not a fun place to be for players. It wasn’t something that was easy to go through last year. And nobody wants to get in that same situation this year.”
The Canucks were shut down for more than two weeks last season when a COVID-19 outbreak hit the team.
–Field Level Media