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Jay Beagle Enters Covid-19 Protocols; Canucks Won't Reopen Facilities as Planned
April 11, 2021
The Vancouver Canucks' pause because of COVID-19 will last at least another day.
The team—which has had eight games postponed dating back to March 31 amid a virus outbreak within the organization—was scheduled to reopen its facilities Sunday, but Jay Beagle was placed into the league's COVID-19 protocols Sunday, according to Jeff Paterson of The Athletic.
As a result, the facilities will be closed until at least Monday, per ESPN.
Vancouver is currently scheduled to resume play Friday against the Edmonton Oilers.
The Canucks haven't played since March 24, as 21 players and four staff members returned positive tests for a COVID-19 variant, according to Mike Battaglino of NHL.com.
ESPN's Emily Kaplan reported that several of the players were in "rough shape" while battling the virus and had "intense" symptoms, including fatigue and dehydration so severe that team staff went to their homes to administer IV treatments.
On Saturday, there were 19 players on the COVID-19 protocol list, Battaglino reported.
Meanwhile, the NHL regular season was extended a second time and is now slated to end May 16. The league was originally scheduled to wrap things up on May 8 but had already added extra time once, up to May 11.
Since the NHL season began on Jan. 13, 54 games had to be postponed, including 49 because of COVID-19 protocol.
The all-Canada North Division managed to stave off COVID-19-related postponements until March 22, when the Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens were postponed because of two Canadiens players entering COVID protocols.
The Canucks (16-18-3) are in sixth place and are eight points behind the Canadiens with 19 games left to play. The top four teams in each division will make the Stanley Cup playoffs, though a start date has not been announced.