The Vancouver Canucks will not be playing hockey this weekend.
The Canucks game on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs and the game on Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes have been postponed.
It was first reported that the game against the Leafs was in doubt by Patrick Johnston of The Province and The Vancouver Sun.
Hearing tonight’s game is in doubt.
— Patrick Johnston (@risingaction) December 18, 2021
Irfaan Gaffar of The Fourth Period and John Shannon of Sportsnet then reported that the games against the Maple Leafs and Coyotes were not going to be played.
Doesn’t sound like Canucks/Leafs or Canucks/AZ is happening this weekend.
— Irfaan Gaffar (@irfgaffar) December 18, 2021
Hearing both games today and tomorrow in Vancouver are going to be postponed.
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) December 18, 2021
The Canucks made the announcement official shortly after.
Official announcement to come. The #Canucks games vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs today and the Arizona Coyotes tomorrow have been postponed to a later date. Fans are asked to hold onto their tickets and the team will communicate further details soon.
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 18, 2021
The Canucks earlier announced that Tyler Myers was the latest player added to the COVID protocol.
Vancouver Canucks defenceman Tyler Myers has been placed into the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
— Canucks PR (@CanucksPR) December 18, 2021
Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV’s Donnie and Dhali-The Team also reported that Ashton Sautner would be called up to Vancouver and signed with the team due to Myers’ being in COVID protocol.
Hearing Ashton Sautner has signed with the Canucks and is getting called up by Vancouver.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) December 18, 2021
The Canucks were projected to have this as their defence against Toronto.
The projected #Canucks blueline for tonight:
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) December 18, 2021
Quinn Hughes, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Kyle Burroughs, Noah Juulsen, Madison Bowey and Ashton Sautner.
The Leafs announced on Friday that John Tavares and Alex Kerfoot entered COVID Protocol. They also announced later that evening that Wayne Simmonds and Jason Spezza also entered COVID protocol.
The Leafs were in Vancouver since Thursday and their game Sunday night against the Seattle Kraken has also been postponed.
Forwards Alexander Kerfoot and John Tavares have been placed into the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 17, 2021
For precautionary reasons, today’s practice in Vancouver has been cancelled.https://t.co/rP27ClVJVN
Maple Leafs forwards Wayne Simmonds and Jason Spezza have been placed into the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol.
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 18, 2021
Forward Alex Steeves and defenceman Carl Dahlström have been recalled from the Toronto Marlies (AHL).
The Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, and Calgary Flames have had their games postponed until after Christmas. The Flames have been hit hard by COVID and have three cases of the Omicron variant in their organization.
The NHL also announced that the Nashville Predators and Boston Bruins will have their games postponed until after the Christmas break.
SCHEDULE UPDATE: @NHLBruins, @PredsNHL shut down through Holiday Break; three additional games also postponed.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 18, 2021
Details: https://t.co/NrfDn0VdNy pic.twitter.com/unKlyrNCip
For now, the Canucks won’t play until December 21 in San Jose against the Sharks (Their last game was in San Jose on December 16.) and they won’t play at home until December 23 against the Anaheim Ducks. That game and other games going forward will only allow up to 50% capacity at Rogers Arena until further notice due to new provincial health guidelines.