Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis start NHL’s COVID-19 protocol quarantine

The Carolina Hurricanes have recently played without defensemen Ethan Bear, Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo after they entered the NHL’s COVID protocol.

Now, the Canes must play without center Sebastian Aho and winger Seth Jarvis.

The team said Monday that Aho, the Canes’ leading scorer, and Jarvis had been placed in the COVID protocol along with a member of the team’s training staff. The three will remain in quarantine in Vancouver, the team said.

The Hurricanes (19-7-1) end a five-game road trip Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild. Pesce and DeAngelo are expected to rejoin the lineup for the first time since the Nov. 28 game against Washington.

Aho missed Sunday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks. Coach Rod Brind’Amour said Aho “didn’t feel right” and was a late scratch in the game at Rogers Arena, won 2-1 by the Canucks. Jarvis did play in Sunday’s game, assisting on Martin Necas’ goal.

The Canes had won the first three games on the trip — against Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton — as Aho starred, scoring five goals and adding two assists in wins. On Monday, he earned recognition from the NHL as the second star of the week.

Aho had a goal and assist against the Jets, then two goals in the Calgary game, scoring the overtime winner. He began a back-to-back set against the Oilers and Canucks with two goals and an assist in the 3-1 win over Edmonton, being named the game’s first star.

The team flew to Vancouver after the Oilers game and did not hold a morning skate Sunday. Brind’Amour said seven hours before game time that he expected everyone to be back in the lineup for Sunday’s game, but Aho was later scratched.

Jarvis, the Canes’ 2020 first-round draft pick, had earned a roster spot as a rookie and has four goals and seven assists in 20 games.

The NHL announced Monday that the Calgary Flames had six players and a staff member enter the COVID protocol and postponed three games. The Canes and Flames played Thursday in Calgary.

With Aho out and with the Canes unable to recall a forward Sunday from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL, Carolina dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen for the Canucks game. They reassigned defenseman Max Lajoie to Chicago on Monday.

Bear was the first to test positive for COVID-19, going into quarantine Nov. 22 in San Jose on the Canes’ first Western road trip. Pesce and DeAngelo entered protocol Nov. 30 -- Brind’Amour said last week that neither had experienced any COVID symptoms.

The Canes also have been without forward Jordan Martinook, an alternate captain who suffered an ankle injury Dec. 2 against the Ottawa Senators. Martinook has missed the past five games and Brind’Amour has said he is not sure when he would return.

The Canes announced before the 2021-22 season that all of their players and staff members had been vaccinated for the coronavirus.

This story was originally published December 13, 2021 at 5:41 PM.

Chip Alexander

The News & Observer

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In more than 40 years at The N&O, Chip Alexander has covered the N.C. State, UNC, Duke and East Carolina beats, and now is in his 15th season on the Carolina Hurricanes beat. Alexander, who has won numerous writing awards at the state and national level, covered the Hurricanes’ move to North Carolina in 1997 and was a part of The N&O’s coverage of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup run.