The Colorado Avalanche beat Minnesota Wild 2-1 on Tuesday, but before the game the NHL had placed striker Wild Marcus Foligno on the league’s COVID protocol list. The list means that there was a positive test of him or someone in your circle found through contact tracking. The hope with Foligno’s isolation from the rest of the team was that he possibly wouldn’t spread the virus to his teammates, but as of 7 pm ET today, five Wild players who played last night were placed on the COVID Protocol List.
Like @darrendreger reported, it sounds like about half a dozen #mnwild players will be on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list. The hope was that this would be isolated only to Marcus Foligno, but the last Wild team to have an outbreak. They will have to return by Colorado medical plane, I suspect
– Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 3, 2021
Among these five Wild players is Avalanche striker Tyson Jost, he is the first and so far the only potential case Avalanche has had this season. You should remember that there were several positive cases among Avalanche when the season stopped last March.
#mnwildNick Bjugstad, Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon and Nick Bonino join Marcus Foligno on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list
Sources: Positive medijet players back to MN, team quarantined at Denver hotel; No word on Thursday’s game, next home of four games
– Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) February 3, 2021
Wild is still in Colorado as both teams are expected to play again on Thursday night. The status of this game is in the air. Michael Russo, who covers Wild for The Athletic, is reporting that the five positive players took a medical jet back to Minnesota, while the rest of the team is quarantined in their Denver hotel rooms, awaiting further tests / instructions. Wild is scheduled to be in St. Louis for two games on Saturday.
Here is the complete list of players on the COVID Protocol List. Minnesota joining New Jersey and Buffalo as the latest teams with a significant spurt.
We have been in the 2021 NHL season for 22 days and 18 games have been postponed. New reports by Bob McKenzie indicate that the MIN @ COL game will be postponed as the Wilds are facing a seven-day stoppage of their season. Minnesota will visit Colorado again in mid-March, where it could fit into a rematch.
Nothing official yet, but it looks like MIN is probably facing a seven-day stoppage that would result in postponed games. https://t.co/GAeYlVPjan
– Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 4, 2021