Jordan Staal off NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list, joins Canes for team practice
The Carolina Hurricanes were back on the ice for a team practice Tuesday and Jordan Staal was with them.
Staal, the Canes’ captain, was the first of six Carolina players to be placed on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list on Jan. 15. That came the day after the Canes opened the season on the road with a 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Staal was later joined on the protocol list by defenseman Jaccob Slavin and forwards Teuvo Teravainen, Jordan Martinook, Warren Foegele and then Jesper Fast. All but Staal remain in the COVID protocol as the Canes, who have had their past four games postponed and rescheduled, prepared to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
Staal said he’s not sure how he contracted the virus after retracing his steps, and that the symptoms were mild for him: 24 hours of having chills but “nothing crazy.” When told he had tested positive for coronavirus, he jokingly said he yelled “No-ooooo!” at head trainer Doug Bennett. Despite attention to all the coronavirus protocols, he had caught the virus and it spread through the team.
“This really makes it real, obviously,” Staal said on a media call. “No one wants to be ‘that guy’ and clearly that was me for the most part bringing it in the room. It was trying to be safe and it’s unfortunate. I feel bad for the guys that are sitting in hotel rooms right now. It’s not fun.
“Everyone has been careful but now taking it even more serious. We don’t want to lose any more man-games and lose guys going forward. It’s not easy sitting there for long and jumping back into it.. We’ve got to make sure we’re on top of it.”
Staal said when he was quarantined in Detroit he felt “like a leper for a little while.” Once out of quarantine and cleared, he said, “You’re a free man.” The others remain in quarantine and Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Tuesday he was not sure when they would return.
Reshuffling the lines
In the practice Tuesday at PNC Arena, Brind’Amour did a lot of reshuffling of his lines and D pairs as players from the taxi squad were filtered into the lineup.
Sebastian Aho centered a top line with Andrei Svechnikov and Brock McGinn on the wings. Staal’s line had Ryan Dzingel and Steven Lorentz on the wings, and Vincent Trocheck centered Nino Niederreiter and Martin Necas. Morgan Geekie was at center with Max McCormick and Joakim Ryan, a D-man filling in on the wing, on the fourth line,
With Slavin out, Brady Skjei moved up to pair with Dougie Hamilton defensively. Jake Gardiner was with Brett Pesce and Haydn Fleury with Jake Bean, who will move into the lineup.
Aho said he tried to speak to the players in quarantine and that Teravainen, while not having serious COVID symptoms, was a “little sick” and will miss some games.
“Obviously it’s a bummer. He’s a huge player for us,” Aho said on the media call. “Hopefully he gets back soon. First of all he needs to get healthy, that’s the No. 1 thing. I’m sure when he comes back he’ll be ready.
“It’s just bad luck. It could have happened to any of us.”
Missing so many players
Brind’Amour said missing so many regulars in the lineup is “devastating” and the conditioning level “goes right out the window” when a team is unable to skate.
“You’ve got to deal with it,” he said on the media call. “The excuse jar is full. Nobody cares and you have to figure it out. That’s the approach we have to have.
“It’s all unknown. We’re living in that world right now. Our approach is what can we do today? I don’t know tomorrow. Let’s don’t get too far of ourselves. This is our group, let’s go. That’s how we’re approaching it.”
Bracco on unconditional waivers
The Canes on Tuesday placed forward Jeremy Bracco, who signed a one-year, two-way contract with Carolina in October, on unconditional waivers in order to terminate his contract.
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 12:06 PM.
