It's now official. The Vancouver Canucks' scheduled game against the Ottawa Senators this Saturday has been postponed.
"Covid-19 cases continue to increase at a rapid rate, and we all need to adjust and be flexible as the pandemic evolves," said Canucks president of business operations Michael Doyle in a team press release on Friday. "We hoped to play tomorrow, but we are at an important point of the pandemic, and given the size of the event, everyone involved believe this is the right decision. We thank everyone for their patience and understanding."
When they had a game to prepare for, the Canucks had been scheduled to practice Friday morning at 8 Rinks. The switch to a workout day at Rogers Arena was an ominous sign that the game wasn't happening.
If there's a silver lining? With every day that passes without a game, it's another day when Bruce Boudreau doesn't have a regulation loss on his Vancouver coaching record. He's now into his second month in that rarified air, after having been hired on Dec. 5.
And unlike last year, it's not like the Canucks' situation is significantly tougher than other teams. As of Friday morning, their 34 games played put them in the middle of the pack. Only seven teams have played more games, with Vegas leading the way at 37.
The clubs with the most catching up to do:
• NY Islanders - 28 games
• Ottawa - 29 games
• Dallas, Boston, Colorado - 30 games
Of course, the Canucks were supposed to have hosted the Islanders this week as well, on Wednesday. And if you think the Ottawa media is apoplectic about their team's continuing postponements, the Islanders writers are on the verge of complete collapse. They've played two games since Dec. 20 — both home wins, to start propelling themselves back up the standings. But they've now had eight games postponed, and their next scheduled contest isn't until Jan. 15.
Saturday's postponement is the seventh of the year (so far) for the Canucks. The Senators are now up to 13 — and have made up one. But even 12 missed games could theoretically be packed into their February window if the schedulemaker can somehow fit the jigsaw puzzle together.
As things stand now, the Sens are idle for 24 days, from Feb. 2-25. If they play three games a week, and two four-game weeks, they'd be completely caught up. That's not much different from a regular game calendar.
My guess is that the league will construct an entirely new schedule to start after the All-Star break and run through the end of April — still allowing for 82 games, and hopefully keeping the same balances that we currently have in terms of home and away games, and division/non-division play. There might be some similarities to the current schedule, but with so many games to be made up and all teams affected to at least some extent, a clean slate is probably the best way to make the travel work.
My big question: will the situation actually be better in February? In terms of rosters, I guess the league is hoping that once players experience Omicron, they won't test positive again. But will community spread drop enough that Canadian governments will ease their restrictions on public spaces — and the dollars will start to flow again?
We're certainly seeing lots of players testing positive for Omicron when they've already gone through other strains of Covid. I believe the Canucks' big outbreak last April was a different strain from the Delta variant that was predominant at the time — and I'm wondering if that has somehow helped to protect the players who were here last year from the Omicron wave?
Looking back on the Canucks'
transaction list from last April, I think Tyler Motte and Tyler Myers are the only players who were in protocol at that time who have gone on the Covid list again this time around.
Even the (many) players who have moved onto new teams seem like they've fared pretty well. I didn't check every single player, but at a glance I think Travis Boyd is the only ex-Canuck who has gone back into protocol over the last month or so — and he only missed one game with Arizona.
If the Canucks do remain paused until their game in Florida on Tuesday, it gives them some time to get more of their own players back out of protocol, and get them some practice time.
Brock Boeser and Phil Di Giuseppe are close to being out of protocols, as is Justin Dowling. On Thursday, Patrick Johnston of
The Province reported that Jason Dickinson was still quarantining in Seattle. It might be easier for him to just meet up with the team in Florida?
Elias Pettersson went into protocol on Wednesday, and Johnston reported Alex Chiasson is also potentially headed into protocol, after testing positive on a rapid test on Thursday morning.
Now — how do the standings look?
The big news, of course, is the free-fall of the Edmonton Oilers, who now sit in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference and are just three points ahead of the Canucks, with the same number of games played.
The Canucks' 35 points still have them 12th in the conference. Winnipeg, Los Angeles and San Jose are all at 37, with similar games-played totals. And now Dallas is on the move again — only one point behind Vancouver, with four games in hand, after coming out on top in a battle against Florida on Thursday.
That was the Stars' first game since Dec. 20. So, it is possible to come out of a layoff with a big win against the Panthers — but Dallas got to do it on home ice, where their record is excellent.
Florida is an incredible 18-3-0 at home so far this season, but just 4-4-5 on the road. They'll be a tough test for Vancouver, for sure, to kick off the trip.
While we wait for more game action, I'd highly recommend that you listen to Bruce Boudreau's interview with Darren Dreger and Ray Ferraro on this week's 'Ray and Dregs' podcast:
Boudreau's candor is terrific as he discusses everything from his coaching philosophies to player evaluations, playoff hopes and local real estate prices.
Once again, he singles out Tyler Myers for praise, and also speaks highly of J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes. He talks about how, as a former player, he tries to do what he can to keep players happy and make it clear that he understands what matters to them.
And — counter to that 'one game at a time' philosophy that we hear preached so often — he wasn't afraid to map out what he thinks the Canucks need to achieve to keep their playoff hopes alive. Counting the now-postponed Ottawa game, and looking ahead to the home games against Florida, St. Louis and Edmonton after the Canucks get home from their southern road swing, Boudreau said he figured the Canucks would need to go .500 through that stretch to keep the postseason dream alive.
He also talked about how he has to be much more careful about the Cameo messages that he records now that he's back in the coaching sphere, and how it's important for him not to swear. And he clarified that the reason why he hasn't been fond of the 'Bruce, there it is' chant is because it puts the spotlight on him, instead of the players. He did concede, however, that the positive is that if fans are chanting, the team must be winning. That, in and of itself, is a good thing.
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