Canucks' COVID-19 outbreak worsens, variant strain detected

Things took a turn for the worse yesterday for the Canucks in their COVID-19 situation with five regulars – Alexander Edler, Braden Holtby, Quinn Hughes, Zack MacEwen, and Antoine Roussel – joining Adam Gaudette and Travis Hamonic on the CPRA list. There is an eighth player on there as well according to Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic who tweets that the unidentified player is part of their taxi squad.

Unfortunately, that number is expected to grow. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that more positive cases were identified on Friday night as well as the Brazilian variant of the virus being identified in some of the players. Dreger added that several of the players that have tested positive are quite ill.

Vancouver has started to recall players from AHL Utica in an attempt to get them through the seven-day quarantine period before the Canucks are slated to resume play, notes Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston. The only one identified thus far is Kole Lind who is currently recovering from a facial injury sustained a month ago today. Further complicating matters is that the Comets haven’t played since March 10th in a game against Rochester (Buffalo).  Since then, they’ve been in COVID protocols as well.

For the time being, Vancouver’s games have been postponed through April 6th. At this point, with more players expected to be added to the CPRA list and players only now being recalled to start their border-crossing quarantine, it seems that it’s only a matter of time before their pause gets extended.