The NHL is extending postponements to Buffalo Sabers, Minnesota Wild and New Jersey Devils as these teams recover from outbreaks of COVID-19 among players.
The league announced on Monday that two additional Sabers games (11 February and 13 February against Capitals); three more Devils games (February 11th and February 13th against the Flyers and February 15th against the Bruins) and two Wild games (February 11th against the Blues and February 13th against the Kings) were postponed because of the COVID-19 protocols .
The Sabers were originally postponed until at least February 8, the Wild at least on Tuesday and the Devils at least on the last Saturday. The decision on whether to resume training and play for the three teams will be made by medical groups from the NHL, NHLPA and teams in the coming days.
From Sunday’s league-related COVID-19 protocol absences report, Sabers had nine players listed, while Devils had 16 players and Wild had nine.
Avalanche, which had three players on the list, also has its games on hold until at least Thursday.
Wild general manager Bill Guerin said there was a plan to return his team to the ice, but that additional positive cases mean more time away from the rink.
“I think it would be better to just take the extra time and make sure our boys are healthy. If we have to wait a few more days, we will have to wait a few more days,” he said on Monday. “I don’t think this is something that we want to stick a round pin into a square hole. We are just going to wait and be patient and do the right thing and we’ll be fine in the end.”
The NHL has postponed 33 games since the season began on January 13. There are 15 games that have not yet been rescheduled.