Why Force It?
3 years ago
There are plenty of common-sense reasons why the NHL should step up today and call off Friday’s re-scheduled game between the Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks on the Left Coast, but as we all know, common sense doesn’t always rule the day.
After being decimated by COVID 19 with 21 players and four team staff infected in the days following the first positive test by Adam Gaudette on March 30, if the Canucks play the Oilers on Friday, it’ll be their first game in 23 days – they last played March 24 against Winnipeg.
If the game is played, the Canucks will take the ice having had just one team practice, which is scheduled for Thursday, and with less than a full roster. Nate Schmidt, Jake Virtanen and Nils Hoglander are still in protocol. Goaltenders Braden Holtby and Thatcher Demko had not been cleared as of this morning. The Canucks could also be without a full coaching staff with Travis Green yet to be cleared as of this writing.
While the Canucks could – it’s a moving target — have as many as 20 players cleared by game time, they’ll be playing front of third-string goaltender Mike DiPietro with minor league call-up Arturs Silovs as back-up, according to a reporter I talked to in Vancouver today. The way I see it, expecting the Canucks to play for the first time in 23 days with the vast majority of the roster coming off of COVID makes no sense at all. None.
WHAT’S THE HURRY?
Mar 13, 2021; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko (35) makes a save on Edmonton Oilers forward Kailer Yamamoto (56) in the first period at Rogers Arena.
As for the Oilers, they’ll have to play Friday in Vancouver and then jump a jet for Winnipeg, where they’ll get into the wrapper in the early morning hours and then have to face the Jets Saturday night. While the Oilers have had five days between games since a 5-0 loss to the Calgary Flames, that’s a tough turnaround.
The Canucks are 10 points back of the fourth-place Montreal Canadiens. Simply put, they aren’t making the playoffs, so there’s no need to force them back onto the ice before they’re fully ready to play. They do not qualify as that right now. If that means having them play less than the full 56-game season because scheduling becomes a problem, so be it. Go with points percentage.
“Some guys feel really good and ready to go,” Vancouver GM Jim Benning said after making three moves before Monday’s trade deadline. “Other guys are still feeling some residual effects of the COVID. The next step for them is to start working out, getting back on the ice and getting back into shape.” Players will have to pass cardiac screening and exercise guidelines.
If the schedule stays as it is, the Canucks will finish the season playing 19 games in 31 days, starting Friday. I can’t imagine the players who were still feeling the effects of COVID Monday will be ready for that kind of haul to the finish line – that includes six games in the next nine days. Again, they’re out contention for the playoffs. The health of the players trumps, or should, playing the full 56 games when the points-percentage option is there.
The common-sense scenario for me is to err on the side of caution. That would have the Oilers spending an extra day here at home and before flying out to face the Jets in Winnipeg, while the Canucks get as much time as they need to get their full roster healthy again, the schedule be-damned. We’ll see how it plays out.
Previously by Robin Brownlee
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