NHL, NHLPA Agree to Continue Season amid COVID-19; Olympic Participation TBD

The NHL and NHL Players' Association agreed on Sunday to continue to the season amid COVID-19 issues around the league and announced a number of makeup dates for postponed cross-border games in December:

The statement added that an announcement on the potential participation of NHL players in the upcoming Beijing Games will be forthcoming, opening up the possibility that the 2022 Winter Games will be devoid of NHL athletes. 

ESPN's Emily Kaplan reported after those announcements that "Olympic participation for NHL players is now in serious jeopardy."

The league would have gone on pause for three weeks in February during the Olympics tournament, but additional postponements before the Winter Games may force the NHL into a difficult schedule crunch that would be alleviated by not taking that break. 

The NHL has until Jan. 10 to pull out of the Olympics without financial penalty. 

Kaplan added that both the NHL and NHLPA "view a full schedule pause as a last resort and are hopeful they will be able to avoid it" amid the COVID-19 outbreak around the league and the new Omicron variant. 

On Saturday, the league introduced stricter coronavirus protocols, including daily testing through Jan. 1 and the possibility of additional game-day testing amid outbreaks within several teams. 

"Given the increased number of positive cases in our league within the last two weeks, and changing societal realities with the new omicron COVID-19 variant, the NHLPA and NHL have collectively agreed that all Clubs shall be required to follow enhanced preventative and detection measures," the league said in a statement.

As of Saturday, 70 players were in the COVID-19 protocols, and the league has already postponed 20 games. The Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers have had games postponed through next week.  

The NHL's vaccine participation has been incredibly high, however, with only the Detroit Red Wings' Tyler Bertuzzi remaining unvaccinated.