Not Out Of The Woods Yet

With hockey being played at all levels again this season, it felt more normal that it has in a long, long time. It was good to get out to the rink, to sit on the bleachers, to cheer and laugh and groan on the action in front of us, and simply to enjoy the game of hockey again. However, we shouldn't get complacent and let our guards down as the Ottawa Senators are now reminding us. It was announced today that the Senators will have their next three games postponed following a multitude of positive cases on their team, forcing ten players into COVID protocol while the team's training facilities have been closed until further notice.

With the announcement today, it should be noted that forwards Drake Batherson, Austin Watson, Alex Formenton, Dylan Gambrell and Connor Brown, defensemen Nick Holden, Victor Mete, Nikita Zaitsev and Josh Brown, and goalie Matt Murray are all in quarantine as the Senators and the NHL made the decision to postpone Tuesday's game in New Jersey against the Devils, Thursday's game in Ottawa against the Nashville Predators, and Saturday's game in Ottawa against the New York Rangers. Officially, the team will be able to return to game action on November 22 against the Colorado Avalanche, but that may change depending on this developing situation.

Ottawa's situation actually began nine days ago when forward Austin Watson entered into COVID protocol, and virtually all team practices were stopped on November 8 when defenceman Nick Holden and assistant coach Jack Capuano entered into protocol. From that point, players were being placed into protocol daily as the numbers grew to ten yesterday with the addition of leading scorer Drake Batherson.

These are the first NHL games postponed this season, but we have seen other leagues affected as both the MacEwan Griffins and the Regina Cougars men's hockey programs had games postponed after entering into their own COVID protocols. Last season, the NHL saw 55 games postponed, so taking these precautions to curb the spread of the virus now rather than later is a good move by the league, even if I think it comes days later than it should have.

With Ottawa having played Boston, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Calgary since Watson's initial entry into protocol, one would hope that there would be no further cases seen on those four teams. Pittsburgh already went through a handful of players being in their own quarantine, so there's hope that there were no asymptomatic players on the ice in those games where the virus could have been spread further.

This is a good time to remind fans once again that masks work, vaccinations work, and they work extremely well in tandem. While there's no issue in removing your mask to sip your beverage or wolf down a handful of popcorn, having it down around your chin for times when you're not eating or drinking means it's protecting nothing when it comes to keeping you healthy.

We still need to be vigilant in keeping ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities safe, so please, I implore you, continue to be smart when it comes to protecting yourself and others from this virus. We're not out of the wood yet as the Ottawa Senators are showing, so let's do the right thing here by looking out for ourselves and others by playing it safe.

I hope we see Ottawa back on the ice in a week's time with all ten players back in the lineup.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!