The National Hockey League (NHL) announced on Monday, more games, including the two Dallas Stars games against Colorado, have been postponed because of COVID-19 concerns.
“Our focus and goal have been and must remain to responsibly and safely complete the entirety of the NHL regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs in a timely manner,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said on December 22. “Therefore, with stringent health protocols once again in place, we will begin utilizing available dates during the Feb. 6-22 window (originally contemplated to accommodate Olympic participation) to reschedule games that have been, or may yet be, postponed.”
The NHL also announced on December 22 that its players would not compete in the 2022 Beijing Olympics due to the regular-season schedule disruption caused by COVID-19 postponements.
It had planned a regular-season break from February 3 to February 22 to accommodate the 2022 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas and the Winter Olympics. On February 4 and 5, the 2022 NHL All-Star Skills and the 2022 Honda NHL All-Star Game will take place.
To avoid further game postponements or teams having to play shorthanded, the NHL and NHL Players’ Association agreed in December to allow teams to have a taxi squad of up to six players available to be added to the roster, according to the league’s statement.
“Dallas currently has eight players in the NHL’s COVID-protocol (Radek Faksa, Jani Hakanpaa, Miro Heiskanen, Roope Hintz, Joel Kiviranta, Esa Lindell, Michael Raffl and Jason Robertson), along with two support staff members,” digital team manager Kyle Shohara reports on the Stars’ website.
Dallas last played a game on December 20, a 7-4 win at home against the Minnesota Wild.