NHL Postpones 3 More Games, Allows Taxi Squads Amid Covid Spike

New York, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Dec, 2021 ) :The National Hockey League will allow teams to use taxi squads to bolster their rosters amid resurgent Covid-19 cases, the league and its players' association said Sunday.

With play due to resume on Tuesday after an extended holiday break, the NHL announced three more game postponements over Covid concerns: a Tuesday night face-off between Columbus and Chicago along with Wednesday's Pittsburgh v Toronto and Boston v Ottawa.

"The League and NHLPA will continue to monitor test results and teams' readiness to play over the coming days and weeks," the two bodies said in a statement, adding that "a variety of factors" would be considered in assessing whether a game should be postponed.

That includes the number of players unavailable because of Covid, the risk of further transmission within a team and a club's access to players from its minor league affiliate.

The health and safety of players and club personnel remain the "number one priority," the league said.

Clubs were told they could begin forming taxi squads on Sunday, setting up six-player reserve squads that could be ready for a quick call-up if needed.

Such squads were used last season in response to the pandemic's impact on the league.

Players on loan to the taxi squad will be permitted to travel and practice with the NHL Club, but they can only play in an NHL game if recalled and placed on the active roster.

The league and union also agreed that clubs will be allowed to make emergency recalls of players from the minor leagues if Covid-related absences leave them without a full line-up of players.

So far the NHL has postponed 67 games this season.

Also this week the league and union agreed not to release players to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics in February over the pandemic.

The three weeks the league would have been on hiatus for the Games could be used to make up missed contests.