The Vancouver Canucks appear to have stickhandled their way through a COVID-19 crisis.
The NHL said Saturday afternoon that “pending today’s test results,” the team would reopen their facilities for practice on Sunday, and face off against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday, April 16.
The league said the decision was the result of its own, the NHL Players’ Association’s and the club’s medical groups.
As of Friday, a total of 21 players — 18 of them on the permanent roster — and four staff members had tested positive for COVID-19. The virus, confirmed to be a COVID-19 variant of concern, had also spread to close contacts, including family members.
The outbreak resulted in the suspension of eight Canucks games between March 31 and April 14.
The announcement that those games have been rescheduled, with the team’s 56-game season now ending May 16, preserves an opportunity for the team to squeak into playoff position.
A start date for those playoffs remains under discussion, and the league said Saturday the revised North Division schedule could result in the other three divisions starting their first rounds a few days earlier.
The Canucks currently sit in fifth out of seven places in the North Division, having played 37 games.
Following are the changes to the North Division schedule:
- Game #829, Edmonton at Vancouver, scheduled for May 4, is now scheduled for Friday, April 16 at 9 p.m. ET
- Game #567, Calgary at Vancouver, scheduled for March 31, is now scheduled for Wednesday, April 21 at 10 p.m. ET
- Game #792, Vancouver at Toronto, scheduled for April 30, is now scheduled for Thursday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m. ET
- Game #647, Vancouver at Calgary, scheduled for April 10, is now scheduled for Monday, May 3 at 9 p.m. ET
- Game #593, Vancouver at Edmonton, scheduled for April 3, is now scheduled for Tuesday, May 4 at 9 p.m. ET
- Game #662, Vancouver at Edmonton, scheduled for April 12, is now scheduled for Saturday, May 8 at 10 p.m. ET
- Game #720, Ottawa at Calgary, scheduled for April 20, is now scheduled for Sunday, May 9 at 8 p.m. ET
- Game #602, Vancouver at Winnipeg, scheduled for April 4, is now scheduled for Monday, May 10 at 8 p.m. ET
- Game #619, Vancouver at Winnipeg, scheduled for April 6, is now scheduled for Tuesday, May 11 at 8 p.m. ET
- Game #833, Toronto at Ottawa, scheduled for May 10, is now scheduled for Wednesday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m. ET
- Game #673, Vancouver at Edmonton, scheduled for April 14, is now scheduled for Thursday, May 13 at 9 p.m. ET
- Game #864, Calgary at Vancouver, scheduled for May 8, is now scheduled for Saturday, May 15 at TBD
- Game #634, Vancouver at Calgary, scheduled for April 8, is now scheduled for Sunday, May 16 at TBD
Following are the start time changes to the North Division schedule:
- Game #710, Toronto at Vancouver, scheduled for 10 p.m. ET on Monday, April 19, is now scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET
- Game #510, Edmonton at Montreal, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET on Monday, May 10, is now scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET