The Washington Capitals players were caught in a scandal on the day that Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. Understandably, the Caps ownership and management team is spitting mad.
The Capitals have been fined $100,000 for violating COVID-19 protocols.
Four Washington Capitals players, including their captain and future Hall of Famer
Alex Ovechkin, have been placed on the NHL’s COVID-19 absences-related protocols list.
Forward
Evgeny Kuznetsov, defenseman
Dmitry Orlov and goalie
Ilya Samsonov were also placed on the COVID-19 protocols list and the Capitals were fined $100,000 for player violations, which the NHL senior leadership groups said
“involved social interactions among team members who were in close contact and who were not wearing face coverings.”
According to a statement from the Caps, the players were involved in a group activity in a hotel room where there were no masks worn nor social distancing practiced.
To be clear, a player is not deemed COVID-19 positive as a result of having players on the protocols list.
According the the NHL bylaws, players with the status “unavailable” due to COVID-19 protocols can include:
* An initial positive test, which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed.
* mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals.
* Required quarantine as a high-risk close contact.
* Isolation based on a confirmed positive test result.
* Quarantine for travel or other reasons.
On Wednesday night, the Capitals' ownership and management team slapped Ovechkin and their players in a statement:
The Caps had the day Wednesday. The Caps played their first two games of the season last Thursday and Friday in Buffalo. The Caps also played their last two games in Pittsburgh.
The Capitals are scheduled to play their home opener this Friday night against Buffalo. The Sabres and Caps will take the day off on Saturday and will play a 3:00pm EDT matinee on Sunday. Earlier this week, the NHL granted permission for the Sabres to move the game time for Sunday's match from 7:00pm to 3:00pm due to the Buffalo Bills playing the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, which will kickoff at 6:40pm Sunday night. Terry and Kim Pegula own the Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills.
Their is no guarantee that the Sabres and Caps will play this Friday night or Sunday afternoon.
There is no defending the Caps players and their reckless behavior during a national pandemic.
Talk about tone deaf. The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of 400,000 Americans since February 2020.
The Capitals are the first team fined by the NHL because of COVID-19 violations. The league office has been managing COVID-19 situations in Dallas, Florida and Carolina. The day before the NHL season started on January 13, the league office announced 27 players had tested positive for COVID-19 during training camp. Of those, 17 players were members of the Dallas Stars. The first three games of the season were postponed.
The NHL announced that the Carolina Hurricanes would have games postponed through at least January 23 after five players were placed on the COVID-19 protocol related absences list.
Buffalo Sabres Blogger • 
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