The Boston Bruins have been shutdown due to COVID, with all of their games before Christmas postponed.
Boston will not play their matchups against against the Montreal Canadiens (Dec. 18), Ottawa Senators (Dec. 19), Carolina Hurricanes (Dec. 21) and Colorado Avalanche (Dec. 23). Those will all be played at a later date.
The cases have been adding up with the Bruins, starting with Craig Smith and Brad Marchand on Tuesday and now, a total of nine skaters are in COVID protocols.
The Bruins are one of five teams that have had their schedules postponed due to rising COVID cases.
Hitting pause on the Bruins season was the right call
There were questions raised when the Bruins began to have cases on Tuesday, and the game against the Vegas Golden Knights was put into question, but the game was played. Even more eyes were raised when the cases began to pile up for Boston ahead of the Thursday game with the New York Islanders, with seven Bruins in protocols, but the matchup went on.
With the Bruins having a trip to Canada this weekend, with any positive tests facing a mandatory 14-day quarantine, it didn’t make a ton of sense to travel and risk that for the players. The Montreal game was first postponed, then the Ottawa game and finally, the remaining four games before the holiday.
It’s not just Boston, as games have been postponed left and right. The Calgary Flames were the first time in this recent stretch to be seriously hit by COVID, but it grew to the Bruins, the Colorado Avalanche, the Florida Panthers and the Nashville Predators. Those are the five teams that remain shut down until after the 25th of December.
The NHL is insisting on trying to push through with the remaining teams that have not been as effected by COVID, but a full pause on the league feels inevitable at this point.
It isn’t just the NHL. The NFL has rearranged games this weekend to cater to teams dealing with COVID issues. There are certain teams in the NBA currently playing shorthanded as they deal with players in protocols.
Here’s wishing a happy and healthy holidays to the Bruins team and everyone else.