Blame Canada? NHL contends with stricter COVID-19 rules north of border

The NHL has seven teams north of the border and must balance stricter COVID-19 regulations set by Canadian federal and provincial authorities.

Sixteen months after choosing Canada as the safest place to complete its season, the NHL now faces a series of hurdles north of the border that complicate its bid to power through the pandemic all over again.

The NFL and NBA can swiftly move to adopt shorter isolation periods for those who test positive for the coronavirus in accordance with new guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the two leagues also can consider not testing asymptomatic, vaccinated players.

The NHL with seven teams north of the border must balance stricter COVID-19 regulations set by Canadian federal and provincial authorities.

“We have always had the issue of differing rules in different jurisdictions, so it’s not a new challenge,” Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday, hours before play resumed after an extended holiday break. “(We are) navigating choppy waters the best we can.”

The CDC recommendation to trim quarantine time from 10 to five days prompted an NHL review of its virus protocols. But there is little evidence Canada is ready to move like the U.S. toward looser rules as provinces clamp down on crowd sizes and impose added restrictions.

“It’s not in the mind of the state or the population and especially not in the mind of the health field workers,” said University of Ottawa professor Gilles LeVasseur, who specializes in U.S.-Canada relations. “Right now it’s more, `Let’s protect, let’s secure and let’s close in and let’s do another confinement.’ There is not that mentality of saying that it’s part of us, it’s part of who we are and let’s live with it.”

That path in the U.S., even among other sports leagues, is causing some frustration among hockey players who would like to see the NHL relax some protocols, most notably reducing mandated absences from 10 days for those with COVID-19 symptoms.

“It seems like it’s always Canada that’s the reason that a lot of things don’t happen, so I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do that,” Tampa Bay Lightning forward and NHL Players Association representative Alex Killorn said. “But it seems reasonable that we would do that and implement it as soon as possible.”