Just five days into training camp and COVID-19 has already impacted the Penguins.
Pittsburgh canceled Saturday’s practice due to a potential exposure to the virus.
The NHL was able to complete it’s postseason this summer by moving its teams to Canadian bubbles, isolating players from the outside world. It worked, the games were played and the Stanley Cup was raised.
But as the 2021 season begins, there is no bubble, and these interruptions seemed inevitable.
“All of us, as players and coaches, have to be adaptable,” defenseman Brian Dumoulin said Friday. “That’s what we have been and something we’ve learned through this whole process that’s an important thing to learn nowadays, is to be able to adapt on the fly. If it calls for change, that’s fine. We’ll deal with it.”
Two other teams, Columbus and Dallas, halted practices Friday over coronavirus concerns.
“It’s crazy times we’re living in,” forward Bryan Rust said. “I think we have to expect the inconvenience. There’s going to be times throughout the year where things are affected by it. I think we just have to expect that’s going to happen and take things as they come.”
“We’re doing everything we can as an organization,” goalie Casey DeSmith added. “Obviously there’s tons of efforts behind the scenes from equipment staff, medical staff, all the above, just to keep us as safe as possible and we appreciate that.”
The NHL and its teams have taken extreme measures to deal with the pandemic. Daily testing, restrictions for players while on the road, mask requirements and other mitigation techniques have been established.
“We had a discussion on day one of training camp about it,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “Our players are very well aware of the circumstances. As I say to the players all the time, let’s control the controllables. If we can do as good of a job as we can to mitigate thee risk, that’s the approach we need to take. Having said that, the pandemic is at its height right now in our country.”
Because of that, Sullivan turned to examples from other sports that have been able to complete seasons during this challenging climate.
“Sully talked about the NFL season and the NFL teams,” DeSmith said. “A lot of the top teams in the league we’re the ones who had the fewest amount of missed games and interrupted practices.
“So we’re just trying to be as careful as possible, be respectful of our teammates and coaches and staff. It’s a team effort to keep each other safe.”
No announcement has been made yet on Sunday’s team scrimmage, or Wednesday’s season opener in Philadelphia.