SAN JOSE, Calif. — Two Sharks home games this week against Canadian-based teams were among 12 postponed by the NHL on Sunday as the league halted all cross-border travel prior to Christmas over increasing COVID-related concerns.
In a joint announcement with NHL Players’ Association, the league said all games between and American and Canadian-based teams between Monday and Thursday would be rescheduled, “due to the concern about cross-border travel and, given the fluid nature of federal travel restrictions.”
The Sharks were slated to play the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday and the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday at SAP Center in their final two games before the Christmas break that runs between Dec. 24 and 26.
San Jose’s next scheduled game is Dec. 27 in Anaheim against the Ducks. The Sharks (15-14-1) last played on Thursday, a 5-2 home loss to the Canucks.
Entering Sunday, the Canucks and Oilers had a combined 11 players and two coaches in the league’s COVID protocol, joining over 90 other players league-wide. The Sharks, as of Sunday afternoon, did not have anyone in protocol.
A Sharks spokesman said anyone with tickets to either postponed game should hold onto them until the games have been rescheduled.
As of Sunday afternoon, 39 NHL games have been postponed as the Detroit Red Wings became the sixth NHL team to shut down their schedule until after Christmas. Boston and Nashville did the same on Saturday, joining Calgary, Colorado, and Florida in that regard.
Despite a sharp league-wide increase in positive COVID test results among players, coaches, and hockey staff, the joint announcement also stated that the 2021-22 regular-season schedule would continue.
The league and NHLPA said, “there have been a low number of positive cases that have resulted in concerning symptoms or serious illness. Therefore, the NHLPA’s and NHL’s medical experts have determined that, with virtually all Players and Club hockey staff fully vaccinated, the need to temporarily shut down individual teams should continue to be made on a case-by-case basis.”
The league, in its statement, did not say when the 12 postponed games would be rescheduled. Players or staff members who test positive for the coronavirus on the other side of the border face a potentially lengthy quarantine.
Before Sunday, 27 games had already been postponed.
“With the number one priority of maintaining the health and safety of our NHL community, and amid changing and unpredictable conditions, we are determined to remain flexible and adaptable both in terms of scheduling and in adjusting Protocols as necessary,” the joint statement said.
The NHL and NHLPA also said Sunday that they expect to announce a final determination on player participation in the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February “in the coming days.”
The Sharks have two players — Switzerland’s Timo Meier and Latvia’s Rudolfs Balcers — who have already been named to their respective national teams and two others who could be selected in Tomas Hertl of the Czech Republic and Sweden’s Erik Karlsson.
“I’ve never played Olympics so I want to go represent my country,” Meier said Friday. “It’s a big honor when you’re selected to go there and the Olympics are something I’ve always wanted to go play.
“I’m just kind of taking it day by day now and listening to the updates and know what the situation is like. For me, putting on the Swiss jersey’s always a big honor, so I definitely hope that I can go and represent them.”
The NHL recently brought back enhanced safety measures that include daily COVID testing, social distancing at team facilities, and restrictions on where players can go outside of the rink or hotel.
“(We’re) familiar with all that stuff,” Meier said. “That’s nothing that’s going to be too crazy new. We’ve been dealing with that stuff.”
