The NHL on Sunday shut down the Detroit Red Wings through Christmas after the team’s COVID-19 outbreak grew to nine players.
Detroit announced Sunday that forwards Sam Gagner, Pius Suter and Joe Veleno were placed in the COVID-19 protocol as well as assistant video coach Jeff Weintraub.
The Red Wings previously had players Robby Fabbri, Alex Nedeljkovic, Michael Rasmussen, Carter Rowney, Givani Smith and Filip Zadina in protocol. Fabbri and Rasmussen were placed in protocol on Wednesday and Nedeljkovic, Rowney, Smith and Zadina entered protocol on Saturday.
Also, head coach Jeff Blashill and assistant coach Alex Tanguay were placed in protocol on Saturday, hours before the Red Wings recorded a 5-2 home win over the New Jersey Devils.
The NHL said it opted for the shutdown “due to concern with the number of positive cases within the last several days.” The league said the players association and Detroit’s medical personnel were involved during the process.
“A decision on when the Red Wings’ training facilities will re-open will be made by the League and the NHLPA in the coming days,” the NHL said in its announcement.
Detroit’s game on Monday against Colorado was previously postponed due to the Avalanche’s outbreak. The Red Wings’ Thursday game at the Minnesota Wild was postponed by the league on Sunday.
Detroit is scheduled to play two games in the New York area next week — Dec. 27 against the Islanders and Dec. 29 against the Rangers.
The NHL has been hit with a flurry of postponements due to outbreaks around the league. It also announced postponements of games that involve border-crossing through the Christmas break.
–Field Level Media
