Canes coach, staffer test positive for COVID; team skates on as other NHL clubs pause
The Carolina Hurricanes’ COVID-19 issues, like other teams in the NHL, continue to grow and become more worrisome.
The Canes said Friday that goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder and a support-staff member, who was not named, had been added to the NHL COVID protocol.
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour said Friday that Schonfelder’s COVID status was concerning. Schonfelder is in close to proximity to goalies Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta, both on the ice in workouts and during goalie meetings, and also with the other coaches in their meetings.
Schonfelder has been meticulous in following all the COVID safeguards doing the pandemic, Brind’Amour said.
“It’s a hold-your-breath every day,” Brind’Amour said. “We’re around Paul a lot. I know if there’s a guy who does everything right ... we didn’t eat together on the road, we separate, we did everything. Yet he tested (positive).
“Nobody is immune to getting it, from the looks of it.”
The “looks of it” continue to worsen in the NHL. The league has shut down the Calgary Flames until further notice, postponing games, and closed the training facilities of the Florida Panthers and Colorado Avalanche and postponed games through the Christmas holiday break.
Canes president and GM Don Waddell held a press conference Thursday before the Hurricanes hosted the Red Wings to address the Canes’ COVID situation. He said he did not expect the NHL to pause the season.
“I think we’re going to keep pushing,” Waddell said. “Obviously you can’t predict what’s going to happen here in the next few weeks, but in talking to the league ... the league is going to continue to go forward, again not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow.”
The Canes’ currently have six players on the protocol list and now in quarantine in Raleigh — forwards Jordan Staal, Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Steven Lorentz and Seth Jarvis, and defenseman Ian Cole. Also on the list and quarantined is massage therapist Mike Maresca.
Defensemen Ethan Bear, Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo tested positive for COVID-19 in late November but have returned to play.
The Toronto Maple Leafs said Friday that John Tavares and Alex Kerfoot had been put on the protocol list — the first Leafs players affected.
The Toronto Star in a story Friday said the Canes game at Calgary on Dec. 9 “appears to have been the epicentre (sic) of the current outbreaks.” The Star story noted the Canes then played in Edmonton and Vancouver, teams which now have players in the protocol.
Waddell said Wednesday it was impossible to know if the Flames game led to the Canes’ COVID problems. Aho, Jarvis and Maresca tested positive in Vancouver, and then Staal, Svechnikov, Lorentz and Cole in Minnesota, where the Canes’ game Tuesday against the Wild was postponed after the additional positive tests.
“We can only speculate,” Waddell said in an interview. “We went there and then Boston played there on Saturday and now they have five or six players going out. Who knows? Could be the hotel — we both stayed in the same hotel. It could be so many factors that it’s hard to pinpoint where you actually got it.”
The Canes (20-7-1) were allowed some emergency callups for the game Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings at PNC Arena, but also had to play short two skaters. The Canes won 5-3, and have a full 20-man roster, with 18 skaters, in facing the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday at PNC Arena — for now.
The Canes players and Meresca were flown back to Raleigh on Thursday in a private jet to complete their quarantine. Brind’Amour said he had spoken to them and that each seemed to be without symptoms.
“Everybody’s feeling good, so I guess that’s the positive of the whole thing,” he said.
The Canes continue to be tested daily and held a practice Friday at PNC Arena. Forward Derek Stepan was not at the practice but Brind’Amour said the veteran was given the day off and had no other issues.
The Canes on Friday recalled forwards Josh Leivo and C.J. Smith from the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
This story was originally published December 17, 2021 at 3:51 PM.
