Dallas Stars’ team has coronavirus issues. How does it affect the Canes, others in NHL?
The news swept through the NHL on Friday with the force of a slapshot to the head.
The Dallas Stars were shutting down their training facility, it was announced by the league. Six Dallas players and two staff members have tested positive for coronavirus, the NHL said. The team will not open the 2020-21 regular season any earlier than Jan. 19, the league’s release said.
Later, the Columbus Blue Jackets announced that some of their players were being held out of a Friday practice because of COVID-19 protocols.
Such is the fear of everyone in the NHL: the virus striking a team. The league did not have any COVID-19 problems when 24 teams gathered at two bubble sites for the 2020 Return to Play postseason. But the fear was that in holding training camps for the 2020-21 season, and with the virus spiking in many parts of the U.S and Canada, there could be some outbreaks and clusters.
“It’s bound to happen,” Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Friday on a media call. “Every college hockey program has had it. Almost every team that’s got going, every avenue, has had it or experienced it.
‘You hope you don’t. But it’s certainly not unexpected.”
Canes are taking coronavirus precautions
The Stars, Blue Jackets and Canes are members of the new Central Division this season. The Canes and Stars are not scheduled to play until a back-to-back set on Jan. 30-31 at PNC Arena, so the Stars’ stoppage now might not affect those games.
But so much still remains unknown. The Canes made it through a rushed training camp in July in the Return to Play process without a coronavirus incident. There were none in the Toronto bubble during the 2020 playoffs as everyone underwent COVID-19 testing each day and it was a secure, highly controlled environment.
The Canes are taking as many precautions as possible for training camp, which began this week. Brind’Amour noted that the coaches use different rooms off the ice, and there is a plan for such things as, say, the goalies being separated in the locker room area -- just in case.
The Denver Broncos had a COVID-19 outbreak among their quarterbacks during this NFL season. That was a lesson learned by those in the other pro leagues.
“There’s a lot of discussion on what’s the best way to do this,” Brind’Amour said. ”We’re trying to make sure we’re not in close contact. Everything is not perfect but it’s the best you can do.”
The Canes completed their fifth day of camp practice Friday at the Wake Competition Center. Their area of the training facility is restricted to team personnel only, with security officers in place. There is no contact between media members with any players or coaches, with all interviews held on Zoom.
“Mask!’ is yelled at training camp
Canes president and general manager Don Waddell said one constant at the training facility is the yelling of “Mask!” if anyone is spotted without their face-covering in place. There is a sense of vigilance and responsibility.
“We all know what we’re facing on a daily basis,” Waddell said on a media call. “We continue to talk with our players, our staff, around the team, about what’s important and what we need to do. One person can bring down the whole team, so we’ve got to be all in this together.
“We all forget at times this is not a norm for us. I think watching out for each other and taking care of each other and being good teammates and being good friends is going to lead us to hopefully having a very successful season in staying healthy.”
The Canes begin their season Jan. 14 at Detroit and play their first four games on the road -- two at Detroit, two against Nashville. Ten of the first 16 games are away from Raleigh. That’s a lot of early travel, a lot of moving in and out of hotels and going to different rinks. The coronavirus risk will be there.
“I’m sure there will be a hiccup throughout the year,” team captain Jordan Staal said this week on a media call. “I think the staff and everyone here in the organization is making sure the players are aware of what we need to do and to understand if somebody gets it, you’re going to hurt the team and it’s going to be bad. The guys understand no one is immune to this thing.”
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 3:43 PM.
