More than half of the Vancouver Canucks players have tested positive for COVID-19, a source confirmed to ESPN. Additional names are expected to be added to the team’s COVID-19 protocol list, in addition to the 14 that appeared on Saturday.
Some players are symptomatic and, according to various sources, a few are in “approximate shape.” A Canucks player told ESPN that he had not heard from a team representative about any players going to the hospital, but had heard of teammates receiving IV treatments for severe dehydration. presumably at home. A source told ESPN that at least three Canucks coaches have also tested positive for the virus. In addition, many members of the player family have tested positive and show symptoms, according to sources.
“Fatigue, dehydration, symptoms are intense,” an agent of a Canucks player told ESPN. “He’s eliminated a lot of guys. Some can’t even get out of bed.”
A source confirmed to ESPN on Saturday night that the most infectious P.1 variant of COVID-19, which was first found in Brazil, has been found among several of the cases affecting the Canucks, the first known cases of the new variant between NHL teams this year. Canada Postmedia first reported this news. The Vancouver region has recently become an access point for variant P.1.
The NHL was initially scheduled to close the Canucks practice facility until at least Tuesday, and the team would return to action Thursday. However, those dates are expected to pick up, as this is the worst outbreak for a team in the NHL this season. The NHL hopes the Canucks can resume play this season, although decisions will be made on the schedule in the coming days as more information is gathered on how the players recover.
On Saturday, the NHL and NHLPA distributed notes to teams to remind them to be “vigilant” and to comply with agreed guidelines for this season, including masks, even if people have been vaccinated and did not go to the restaurants. Coaches were also reminded not to take off their masks to talk to players or officials on the benches during games, which has become a common practice in the NHL this season.
The Canucks are the second Canadian-based team to have COVID-19 problems. The Montreal Canadiens had four games postponed in late March, but have since returned to action. The NHL has postponed 45 games due to COVID-19, although the first 37 postponements were all for teams based in the United States.
For Vancouver, the problem began Tuesday, when Adam Gaudette was retired from practice after a positive test result, which was confirmed positive later that night. Travis Hamonic joined Gaudette on the protocol list on Thursday. On Friday, Alexander Edler, Braden Holtby, Quinn Hughes, Zack MacEwen and Antoine Roussel were also added to the list, following additional testing and contract tracking. Gaudette’s wife, Micaela, tweeted on Thursday: “My husband is not in good shape, but I take good care of him!”
Micaela Gaudette also tweeted: “A human gets sick with a virus that we don’t know much about and we’re all angry with him because you can’t watch a hockey game on TV” in response to criticism on social media .
Travis Boyd, Thatcher Demko, Jayce Hawryluk, Bo Horvat, Tyler Motte, Tyler Myers and Brandon Sutter were added to the list on Saturday.