The Buffalo Sabres announced Tuesday morning the team had canceled its originally scheduled practice at Harborcenter. It was slated to be the team's final practice before taking the next few days off for the NHL's holiday break.
After placing forward Vinnie Hinostroza in the NHL's COVID-19 Protocol on Monday, the Sabres announced that forwards Zemgus Girgensons and Jeff Skinner have also entered the league's protocols on Tuesday.
"This is all over the world, right? The whole world is dealing with this, and obviously as a sports league, we're a part of that," said Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams during a Zoom conference call on Tuesday. "The protocols are in place, you're doing your best to follow everything, but you get up everyday and see what the day brings. We've talked all year to our players about being vigilant with the rules and really making sure that we do everything we can to keep ourselves and each other safe, but it's just the reality and the world we're living in right now. So you just adjust where you have to."
According to Adams, only Girgensons is feeling symptomatic after testing positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, both Hinostroza and Skinner are asymptomatic.
Girgensons and Skinner join a growing list of players around the NHL to be placed in COVID-19 protocols over the last several days. Over 100 players have already entered the league's protocols, which has caused the entire league to head into the holiday break early, as of Wednesday, Dec. 22.
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Before the league decided to shut down the season early due to the growing number of COVID-19 cases, the Sabres had three of their games postponed this week due to COVID-19 issues with the other teams. Monday and Thursday night's games against the Columbus Blue Jackets were postponed by the league on Monday, while Wednesday's scheduled matchup with the Colorado Avalanche was also postponed this past Friday.
When asked if he has heard anything about the league potentially being shut down past Sunday, Dec. 26, when players are expected to report back to team facilities, Adams does not believe that will be the case.
"I do believe that really the doctors are working really hard at this to analyze the data and make decisions that are right for the safety and the health of everyone involved. So you adjust with what you have to adjust to, and you focus on what you can control. For us, those type of decisions aren't in our control. We'll have this break, we hope we can get everybody back and healthy and re-energized, and then go to work when we get back on the 26th."
The Sabres are next scheduled to play on Monday, Dec. 27 when they play host to the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center. Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. EST.
Adams also said the Sabres' American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester, the Americans, had a positive COVID-19 test with the team on Tuesday. This comes after the team had been dealing with a flu bug that put many players out of the lineup.
The Amerks were next scheduled to play Wednesday night at Blue Cross Arena against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. However, that game has since been postponed, citing COVID-19 protocols affecting the Penguins.
You can listen to Adams' entire conference call with the Buffalo media below:
