(Reuters) – The National Hockey League (NHL) on Saturday said it would postpone all Boston Bruins and Nashville Predators games at least through Dec. 26 due to the spread of COVID-19.
The league had already shut down the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers through at least that date because of the rising number of players testing positive for the virus.
Due to a number of Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks players entering COVID-19 protocols over the past two days, the league said it was postponing Saturday’s Toronto-Vancouver game, as well as Sunday’s Arizona Coyotes-Canucks and Maple Leafs-Seattle Kraken games.
The league said it was in the process of reviewing and revising its regular season schedule.
The disruptions to the schedule further cloud the NHL’s plans to send the world’s top players to the Feb. 4-20 Beijing Olympics.
The NHL agreed to a break in its schedule to allow players to compete in Beijing with the caveat that it could withdraw on its own if an abundance of COVID-19 disruptions forced games to be rescheduled during the Olympic window.
The NHL has until Jan. 10 to withdraw from the Beijing Olympics without financial penalty.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, editing by Ed Osmond)
