OTTAWA — The NHL and the Ottawa Senators have postponed the team’s next three games due to an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.
The league made the announcement on Monday, saying in a release that the Senators’ games will be postponed through at least Saturday.
Ottawa was scheduled to visit the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, host the Nashville Predators on Thursday, and welcome the New York Rangers on Saturday.
The Senators have had 10 players test positive for COVID-19 in the past 10 days.
Ottawa cancelled its practice on Monday to try and contain the outbreak.
Forward Drake Batherson was the most recent Senators player to be put in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol when he was added to the list on Sunday.
Batherson joined Austin Watson, Nick Holden, Josh Brown, Connor Brown, Dylan Gambrell, Matt Murray, Victor Mete, Alex Formenton and Nikita Zaitsev, along with associate coach Jack Capuano.
The Senators said in a release that tickets purchased for Thursday and Saturday will be honoured when the games are rescheduled.
It’s the second straight season a Canadian team has dealt with significant COVID-19 issues. A massive outbreak derailed the Vancouver Canucks’ 2020-21 campaign.
Canucks forward Adam Gaudette was pulled from practice on March 30 after testing positive for COVID-19, the first of 22 Vancouver players and four staff members who were stricken by the virus, including head coach Travis Green.
Vancouver ultimately had nine games postponed over 19 days. When they returned to play, they lost seven of their final 10 games of the season, finishing last in the all-Canadian North Division.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2021.
The Canadian Press