With the NHL season set to resume with four games scheduled for Tuesday night, it may have appeared that the NHL was out of the woods as it pertains to postponements.
This is not the case.
On Tuesday, the NHL announced that 10 more games will be postponed. The first of these 10 games was a scheduled contest between the Islanders and Red Wings on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at UBS Arena. This game is being postponed due to COVID-19 concerns with both clubs.
The other nine games that the NHL has postponed are games that were scheduled to be played in Canadian arenas between Jan. 3-10. Rather than COVID-19 issues, these games are being postponed because of attendance restrictions in certain Canadian cities. These nine games will be rescheduled for dates later in the season when such restrictions may be eased or lifted, out of a hope that it will mitigate the negative financial impact on the home teams.
The full list of the nine games that were scheduled to be played in Canadian arenas that are being postponed is as follows.
Friday, Dec. 31
Pittsburgh at Ottawa
Winnipeg at Calgary
Monday, Jan. 3
Carolina at Toronto
Tuesday, Jan. 4
Washington at Montreal
Thursday, Jan. 6
Toronto at Montreal
Saturday, Jan. 8
Buffalo at Montreal
Seattle at Winnipeg
Monday, Jan. 10
Columbus at Montreal
Minnesota at Winnipeg
In addition, the Boston-Montreal game that was scheduled to be played at Bell Centre on Wednesday, Jan. 12 will now be played in TD Garden instead. No make-up date for when the Bruins will visit the Canadiens in Montreal has been announced.
This raises the total of NHL games postponed this season to 80.
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