The NHL has officially decided to follow in the footsteps of the NBA and suspend the remainder of the NHL season until further notice due to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The meeting took place at 1:00 PM EST on Thursday, March 12th in the wake of the NBA suspending their season the night before. Rudy Gobert, a member of the Utah Jazz, tested positive for COVID-19 before his game Wednesday night, to which the NBA responded by canceling all games and ultimately leading to the current season suspension.
As per someone on the Board of Governors call with the NHL, the season has officially been paused.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 12, 2020
In Gobert’s last five games, he played in a few stadiums that also house NHL teams, and since we’re still leaning on the side of safe over sorry, this was probably the right move for the league. In the interest of safety, of course. Gobert has already had a teammate test positive since he himself did, so the cause for concern is certainly there. There have been no confirmed reports, yet, that any NHL player has tested positive for COVID-19. We have also not heard any sort of timeline for the temporary hiatus, but we do know they are hoping to resume when recommended bans on mass gatherings are lifted by the WHO and CDC. For now, we know the league has asked teams to provide stadium/arena availability through July of this year.
We could realistically be looking at mid-summer hockey if we can get COVID-19 to die down soon. This will open up a can of worms that no professional sports league is particularly familiar with. How will the NHL proceed? What differences can we expect for the postseason after a league takes a short hiatus? We will keep this story updated, and be sure to check out Puck Puck Pass, where KJ and ZachMac will be going over everything you need to know about what this means for the NHL.
