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League sources have told @TheAthleticMtl that multiple Canadiens players have tested positive for COVID-19: https://t.co/dBM1vAsIxw
— Аrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) July 12, 2020
As training camps get underway for the 24 teams involved in the NHL’s Return To Play, this is exactly the kind of news they were hoping to avoid. And for the Canadiens, the impact could go beyond the players who’ve tested positive:
Max Domi and the Canadiens have agreed to wait 7-10 days before deciding if he'll participate in training camp. Domi is a Type 1 diabetic and more prone to having serious complications if he were to contract the coronavirus. https://t.co/JeZrBGXJet
— NHL.com (@NHLdotcom) July 12, 2020
They’re also going to go ahead without Karl Alzner, who’s opting out of the return:
The Montreal Canadiens have announced that defenseman Karl Alzner has informed the organization that he has made the decision to opt out of Phase 3 and 4 of the NHL's Return to Play Plan.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 12, 2020
And the Habs aren’t the only team stumbling over this obstacle into the first day of training camp:
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be voluntarily sidelining nine players from their training camp roster due to potential secondary exposure to an individual who had contact with a person that has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. (1 of 3)
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) July 13, 2020
Fortunately for the Penguins, it appears as though most of the players withheld are their black aces:
Today's line rushes with nine Pens held out:
— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) July 13, 2020
Guentzel – Crosby – Sheary
Zucker – Malkin – Rust
Marleau – McCann – Rodrigues/ Lafferty
ZAR - Blueger - Tanev
Dumoulin – Letang
Pettersson – Marino
Johnson - Schultz
Ruhwedel – Czuzman
Murray, Jarry
The Flyers are live streaming their sessions for their fans, something all teams should be taking the time to do, honestly:
Watch LIVE as the Flyers hit the ice for the first on-ice session of Phase 3 Training Camp. https://t.co/imkPwg4hrs
— x-Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 13, 2020
CANUCKS NEWS:
The Canucks play-in round opponent are on the ice right now:
#mnwild lines from first day of camp are basically same as last practice March 11
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) July 13, 2020
Greenway-Staal-Fiala
Parise-Eriksson Ek-Kunin
Foligno-Galchenyuk-Zuccarello
Donato-Koivu-Hartman
Mayhew-Sturm-Rask
They also took the ‘interim’ tag off Dean Evason’s title, making it official for the former Kamloops Jr Oilers legend heading into the series against the Canucks:
As the Minnesota Wild head toward Stanley Cup Qualifiers, their head coach no longer has the interim tag. https://t.co/GoAZGV5X3M
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) July 13, 2020
As the Canucks hit the ice today, they can probably expect things to be status quo in terms of how Travis Green runs his camps:
Ben Kuzma: Safety, secrecy in the spotlight as Canucks open camp https://t.co/hrohnoR8ng pic.twitter.com/uJjOLAQ4j2
— Province Sports (@provincesports) July 12, 2020
Here’s who we’ll see on the ice for the Canucks on Day 1:
A total of 34 players (18 forwards, 12 defencemen, and four goalies) will report on Monday. pic.twitter.com/07ai29fMSX
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) July 11, 2020
And while the actual games and whether or not they get played should be the primary focus at the moment, the Canucks still manage to find a way to divide the fanbase because there’s few teams better at it than they are:
"Internally at least, the organization has come to rate Tyler Toffoli more highly than Boeser."
— Jason Brough (@JasonBroughTSN) July 13, 2020
But @ThomasDrance thinks that winning a Boeser trade would be "near impossible."https://t.co/vgxRnDzCHU
It’s gonna be a long, hot summer.