The coming week foreshadowed the presence of Brendan Gallagher in the lineup of the Montreal Canadiens after a battle against COVID-19. Also, it made it possible to believe that Rafaël Harvey-Pinard would play a first career game in the National Hockey League. This return and this inaugural release will have to wait.
After training in uncertainty at the Bell Complex in Brossard on Sunday morning, in anticipation of a three-game four-day streak in the greater New York area, the Canadiens’ players learned, a few hours later, that they will have to stay at home.
At approximately 4:30 p.m. Sunday, the NHL and the League’s Players Association jointly announced that all matches between a Canadian team and an American roster, scheduled to take place between December 20 and 23, will be postponed and rescheduled.
In a statement, the NHL and the Players’ Association motivated the move out of concerns about cross-border travel and the changing nature of federal travel restrictions.
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For about two weeks, the league has been affected by numerous positive cases of COVID-19. They forced the postponement of 27 meetings, including that between the Canadian and the Boston Bruins, Saturday night at the Bell Center.
So far, the decision affects 12 more games, including those the Canadiens were scheduled to play against the Islanders on Monday, the Rangers on Wednesday and the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. At the earliest, the Canadian will take over the collar on December 28 in Tampa.
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