More than half of the Vancouver Canucks players tested positive for COVID-19, an ESPN confirmed source. 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 several sources, there are some who are in “raw form”. 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, probably at their home. A source told ESPN that at least three Canucks coaches also tested positive for the virus. In addition, many members of the players’ family have given positive results and are experiencing symptoms, according to sources.
“Fatigue, dehydration, symptoms are intense,” an agent of a Canucks player told ESPN. “He beat a lot of guys. Some can’t even get out of bed.”
A source confirmed to ESPN on Saturday night that the more infectious P.1 variant of COVID-19, which was first found in Brazil, was found among several cases that affected Canucks, the first known cases of the new variant among NHL this year. This news was first reported by the Canadian Postmedia. The Vancouver region has recently become a hotspot for P.1.
The NHL initially planned to close the Canucks training facility until at least Tuesday, with the team returning to action on Thursday. However, this data is expected to be rejected as this is the worst outbreak for an NHL team this season. The NHL hopes the Canucks will be able to resume play this season, although scheduling decisions will be made in the next few days as more information is gathered on how players recover.
On Saturday, the NHLPA and NHLPA distributed notes to teams that reminded them to remain “vigilant” and follow the agreed rules for this season – including wearing masks, even if people have been vaccinated and do not go to restaurants. Coaches were also reminded not to pull off their masks to talk to players or bank officials during games, which has become a common practice in the NHL this season.
Canucks is the second team in Canada to have COVID-19 problems. The Montreal Canadiens had four games postponed to the end of March, but have since returned to action. The NHL has now postponed 45 games because of COVID-19, although the first 37 postponements were all for teams in the United States.
For Vancouver, the problem began on Tuesday, when Adam Gaudette was withdrawn from practice following a positive test result, which was confirmed positively later that evening. Travis Hamonic joined Gaudette on the protocol list on Thursday. By Friday, Alexander Edler, Braden Holtby, Quinn Hughes, Zack MacEwen and Antoine Roussel were also added to the list after additional testing and contract tracking. Gaudette’s wife, Micaela, wrote on Twitter on Thursday: “My husband is not in excellent shape, but I take good care of him!”
Micaela Gaudette also wrote on Twitter: “A human being gets sick of a virus that we don’t know much about and we are upset about it because you can’t watch a hockey game on TV” in response to criticism from social media.
Travis Boyd, Thatcher Demko, Jayce Hawryluk, Bo Horvat, Tyler Motte, Tyler Myers and Brandon Sutter were added to the list on Saturday.