The Omicron wave hits hockey at the highest level

NHL

The league and players ’association announced last night that they have agreed to suspend the season starting Wednesday from Christmas break. It became a striking headline, but the change is not as drastic as it sounds, given all the cancellations that have already taken place. All four games originally scheduled for Wednesday were postponed earlier, and of the 15 races originally held on Thursday, only five were still pending. NHL Traditional Holiday Break 24-26 December was always at hand. So this means a slightly extended Christmas holiday – at least for now.

The plan is for the teams to meet on Killing Day to test and practice. Games are scheduled to continue on Monday with enhanced protocols. But let’s see how many of the 14 on schedule that night actually happen. More than 15 percent of the NHL’s more than 700 players are currently covered by the league’s COVID-19 protocol. Fifty games have already been postponed for this season (45 after Dec. 13), and 10 teams were in the off-mode before last night’s announcement.

Not everyone is involved in the NHL’s cautious approach. When all but one of the league’s players (Detroit’s Tyler Bertuzzi) have been vaccinated at least twice and those who have had a positive result in the last couple of weeks seem to experience only mild symptoms, some players are said to be bothering to skip games. they do not feel sick. Some would like the NHL to be more than the NFL, which responded to the peak of asymptomatic positive tests by tightening the rules for teams that experienced outbreaks, but also by making it easier for vaccinated and asymptomatic players to return to practice and play. Winnipeg Jets goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck today recommended this approach, calling the extended holiday break “extra” and suggested the NHL should be more flexible. “You see leagues like the NFL that adapt and I think they do things right,” he said.

Olympics

Of all the headaches (figuratively more than literally) the NHL is experiencing because of Omicron, hopes that the world’s best players would compete in the men’s hockey tournament in Beijing in February depended on the thinnest wires. This afternoon, they had just broken off reports that the NHL and the NHL Players ’Association had gotten rid of together.

At the time of our release, they had not yet made it official, but this would follow all indications of a joint statement by the league and players on Sunday that they are “actively discussing” participation in the Olympics and are expected to reach a final decision “in the coming days”. The deadline for their withdrawal without financial sanction is only January 10th, so if the notice comes so soon, you have to understand that it has to be said that they will remove the plug. Expectations are that it will come tonight or tomorrow.

The world’s best women’s hockey players are still on their way to Beijing. However, the show game between Canada and the United States in Minnesota last night was canceled. Canada was due to announce its list of Olympics tomorrow, but it was postponed for the time being. Canada and the United States are scheduled to play the final two games of their nine-match show tour on Jan. 3 and 6 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alta.

Juniors of the world

Speaking of the international hockey of Edmonton and Red Deer, these cities are still hosting the Youth World Championships, which begin on Killing Day. Not only that, but the plan is still to allow the arenas to reach full capacity. It includes Oilers ’18,000-seat building. Last Friday, Hockey Canada announced that 90 percent of tickets had been sold.

However, the event has not arrived completely unharmed: 10 teams were scheduled to play two or three show games, but the warm-up time was reduced to one game for each team. They will all happen on Thursday when Canada faces Russia. Canada’s first match in the actual tournament will be on Sunday at 7pm ET against the Czech Republic.

Reports: NHL players do not participate in the Beijing Olympics

As COVID-19 cases (and game postponements) pile up, the league and its players agreed to withdraw from the Beijing Olympics. 3:26

Quickly…

Maggie Mac Neil has all the gold medals. The 21-year-old Canadian swimmer was already the undisputed queen of the 100-meter butterfly after winning the World Championship in 2019 and winning Olympic gold last summer. Today, he added to his collection by winning the World Short Track Championship at the 25-meter swimming pool in Abu Dhabi. It was Mac Neil’s fourth gold medal in the match, ending today. He also won the 50-meter backstroke and was part of the two gold-winning Canadian messaging teams. Canada’s seven gold medals – Tessa Cieplucha (400m medley) and Sydney Pickrem (200m medley) were the other personal champions – were left after only nine in the United States. Canada’s total of 15 medals ranked third with Russia (after 30 in the US and 16 in Italy) and nearly doubled the country’s previous record, eight short track World Championship medals in 1999 and 2016. Read more about Mac Neil’s golden swim and the rest of the last day’s highlights here .

The Canadian Olympics curling mixed doubles games are progressing as planned. The tournament, which will decide who will defend the gold medal won by John Morris and Kaitlyn Lawes in 2018, is still running from December 28-1. 2 The organizers of Portage la Prairie, Man., Announced today. Curling Canada says the attendance limit is limited to 50 percent, while athletes, staff and staff are “limited to a“ bubble-like atmosphere ”and“ regularly tested. ”Morris and Lawes are no longer a team, and Lawes would not have been eligible anyway. as part of a skip Jennifer Jones team, and Curling Canada’s policy is not to allow anyone to compete in multiple events at the same Olympics.Morris is now playing three-time Scotties winner Rachel Homan.The second pair of tents on the 16-team field is two-time Scotties champion Kerri Einarson and former Bp Jacobs.Einarson was with Brad Gushue, but he had to bow after winning the Canadian men’s tests, with CBC Sports streaming each game in the mixed doubles game next Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET.

You’re on the move. We’ll talk tomorrow.