The St. Louis Blues will not be playing their eighth game of the season just yet. Their second of a two-game series against the Vegas Golden Knights has been postponed.
Vegas was missing their entire regular coaching staff in Tuesday’s game, mainly due to precaution as not everyone had tested positive. That changed and the numbers did not favor the team.
According to the Blues, a player and another member of the Golden Knights’ coaching staff entered the league’s covid protocols. This, on top of the positive tests they already had, prompted the NHL to put off the game.
This is completely understandable, given the climate we currently live in. It is also somewhat puzzling.
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Safety should come first and you do not want to jeopardize entire teams and weeks worth of games for one contest. The counter argument is what is the purpose of the taxi squad if not for this kind of situation?
You have extra players at your disposal in case someone gets sick or injured. Instead, we jump directly to cancellation.
The current medical reasoning is people should wait five to seven days after exposure to get tested. Perhaps the fear is players might test negative today, have the virus and expose both teams and then have positive tests later on.
Without knowing when the initial exposure was, it’s all conjecture. The bottom line is now the league has to figure a time when these teams can make this game up.
St. Louis has part of a bye-week in March, prior to two home games against Vegas. The league might suggest playing a game in Vegas on Tuesday, March 8, which would give St. Louis two days off after playing Los Angeles and two days off prior to playing Vegas at home.
If you wait until the Blues visit the Golden Knights again, you have to wait until the very end of the season. The Blues play a back-to-back against Vegas May 7 and 8. They play Anaheim May 5. So, you’d have to play a third game against Vegas after a back-to-back and potentially delay the start of the playoffs.
Utilizing that space in March makes the most sense. That’s why the NHL won’t do it, most likely.
We’ll play the waiting game to see. For now, Blues fans and players have an extra night off. At least now, they might be able to break their streak of losing even-numbered games.