BUFFALO, N.Y. — Going into Sunday the Sabres had seven players in the NHL COVID-19 protocol. As we’ve been saying all week, that doesn’t mean Rasmus Ristolainen, Taylor Hall, Brandon Montour, Tobi Rieder, Jake McCabe, Dylan Cozens or Curtis Lazar tested positive. They may have tested positive for COVID-19 or they may have been in close contact with somebody that tested positive for the virus and contact tracing put them in the protocols.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said this week that less than 50 percent of the players that have landed on the NHL COVID-19 protocol list actually tested positive.
The Sabres are in quarantine and the season is on hold at least through Monday. The next scheduled game is Thursday against the Washington Capitals.
Let me give you a little context. On January 20, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Ilya Samsonov, Alex Ovechkin and Dmitry Orlov, all of the Capitals were put in the NHL COVID protocols. Ovechkin and Orlov were cleared on January 30, while Kuznetsov and Samsonov are still in the protocol almost three weeks later.
New Jersey Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood went into the protocol on January 21, and didn’t come off the list until February 2.
If a player tested positive, but didn’t have any symptoms, they’re going to be in protocol for 10 days. The player must be symptom free the whole time they’re in quarantine to be able to exit the protocol.
If they’ve had symptoms at any time, I’ll give you the exact wording from the NHL:
Symptoms-Based Strategy:
• If at least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared, and at least 24 hours have passed since last fever without the use of fever-reducing medications, and symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath, etc.) have improved
Test-Based Strategy:
• The individual has tested negative twice on the basis of the CDC Test-Based Strategy after the resolution of any fever (without use of fever-reducing medications) and has experienced improvement in symptoms (e.g., cough, shortness of breath)
If the Sabres season does restart on Thursday, I think some of the players in the NHL protocol will miss the game.
If Buffalo had to play a game Sunday the forwards would likely include Casey Mittelstadt, Tage Thompson, C.J. Smith, Rasmus Asplund and J.S. Dea. The defense would include Matt Irwin, Will Borgen and Brandon Davidson.
Monday at 7:30 p.m., tune into Sports Talk Live as I’ll join Adam Benigni and Mike Harrington to talk about this and other Sabres news.
