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The NHL announced that 27 players confirmed positive COVID-19 tests during training camps, which ended on Tuesday.
Of those players, 17 were members of the Dallas Stars, who shut down their training facilities last Friday after an outbreak. Dallas’ first three games – in Florida on Thursday and Friday and in Tampa Bay on Sunday – have been postponed. The reigning Western Conference champions are now set to open their doors at the Lightning on January 19 in a Stanley Cup Final rematch.
The NHL has said most of Dallas’ players are asymptomatic and all “are currently recovering without complications.”
Assistant Commissioner Bill Daly said this week that the Stars will be able to play when they can put a competitive team on the ice “without jeopardizing the health and safety of the players.”
The league opens its 56-game 2020-21 regular season on Wednesday.
The training camp tests were administered over a two-week period, from December 30 to January 11. Approximately 12,000 tests were administered to over 1,200 players.
The identities of the players who tested positive in the preseason have not been disclosed. This policy changes in the regular season, when a player with a confirmed positive test, or a player who is detained due to contact tracing issues, will be publicly named.
“The purpose of these protocols is not to punish people,” said Commissioner Gary Bettman. “The point of having the protocols is to keep everyone as safe and healthy as possible. We are seeing compliance virtually throughout the league. The test numbers have been very good.”
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