The NHL announced that the Sharks games on
December 21st (vs Vancouver) and 23rd (vs Edmonton) have been postponed.
Apparently travel restrictions related to teams crossing the U.S. - Canadian
border due to COVID and the Omicron variant spiking are now interfering with
games between American and Canadian teams.
The official announcement
from the Sharks:
Due to the concern about
cross-border travel and, given the fluid nature of federal travel restrictions,
all games involving a Canadian-based team playing a U.S.-based team from Dec.
20 through the start of the Holiday break on Dec. 23, will be postponed and
rescheduled. Those additional postponements include:
Tues, Dec. 21 vs.
Vancouver
Thurs., Dec. 23 vs Edmonton
Fans with tickets to these
two Sharks home games are asked to retain them until the dates have been
rescheduled. |
It's unclear when those games would be made up, or
if the Sharks will issue refunds due to the schedule change.
The NHL
added more clarification in a statement:
| "Although there has been a recent
increase in positive COVID test results among players, coaches and hockey
staff, 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 effects of
recently introduced enhanced prevention and detection measures will be
evaluated daily. The NHL and NHLPA, along with their medical experts, will be
monitoring not only the number and pattern of positive COVID results, but also
the depth of club lineups so as to ensure both the health and safety of the
players and the integrity of League competition." |
The postponement follows the delay of several NHL
games this past week, and three NFL games on Sunday. The fact that these are
teams traveling across a national border complicates things. It also applies to
all cross-border games through the end of the NHL's Christmas break, which runs
from Decemebr 24th through the 26th.
