It had been all quiet on the Bruins' front since Friday, when it was announced that their games Saturday and Tuesday had been postponed after their list of players in COVID-19 protocol had expanded to five.
Since then, the only news has come each day at 5 p.m. when the same five names -- David Pastrnak, David Krejci, Jake DeBrusk, Craig Smith and Sean Kuraly -- have appeared on the NHL's daily COVID protocol list.
We finally got some more information Monday afternoon when general manager Don Sweeney met with the media via Zoom.
Sweeney said everyone who was in the Bruins' traveling party remains in quarantine, leaving only to get tested each day. He said the hope is still that they'll be able to return to the ice at some point on Wednesday, but that they "have some hurdles to cross before we can get there."
Sweeney said he doesn't believe the Bruins did anything wrong that would have led to this situation, saying they followed all the league's protocols at every turn.
The league came under some criticism for allowing the Bruins and Sabres to play Thursday night, after one Bruin (Kuraly) had already tested positive and been placed in protocol. An unidentified Buffalo staff member was also placed in protocol that morning.
"We just follow the steps accordingly," Sweeney said. "Whether those are contact tracing steps or positive test steps, we just have to follow in line with what the league recommends and the best medical advice. Our doctors are included in that. Both teams at times are included in that. And then you play the games as scheduled as they come, or you make adjustments as we did. As far as the tracing at the start of things, again, the league does several steps.
"We're doing everything we can with extra point of care testing, every day testing, to eliminate all the variables you possibly can. But you're gonna find, and you have found over the course of time, that the virus continues to spread. And then you have to kind of narrow down where it has. We've done some of that through the tracing and such, and then you just out of an abundance of caution -- and you've seen it at different times -- where teams have had to take a pause. And that's where we are. We're in the middle of our pause. Hopefully we've contained where we thought the initial test result was, and you go from there."
Sweeney said the Bruins worked with the NHL and medical professionals to set up individual travel back from Buffalo for players who needed to be separated, using car services that were set up to make sure the driver and the player were separated. Players and staff who were deemed not to be at risk flew back together.
Sweeney said testing between now and the Bruins' next game -- currently scheduled for Thursday -- will determine who is available to play, but that he anticipates they would be without at least a couple of the players who are in protocol if they do play Thursday.
Tuesday night was supposed to be the Bruins' first home game with fans in the building at 12% capacity. Sweeney said the plan is still to have fans in the Garden for their next home game, whether that's Thursday or a different day.
Sweeney said players who were not in the Bruins' traveling party -- i.e. those recovering from injury -- have still been able to use the Bruins' facility and get on the ice while the traveling party quarantines. Most notably, he said that Brandon Carlo (concussion) has been on the ice skating. Sweeney had no timeline for Carlo's or any other injured player's return to game action.
