The National Hockey League (NHL) has postponed eight games scheduled for January 3-16, Friday.
All eight of these duels were to take place on Canadian soil. Batman’s department made the decision after “binding measures [quant à la capacité d’accueil dans les amphithéâtres] imposed in certain Canadian cities,” he wrote in a short press release.
Consequently, senators will not host Minnesota Wild in Ottawa on Monday. Wild also won’t need to travel to Edmonton for their January 12 match.
For their part, the New Yorkers, who would have embarked on a trip to western Canada to take on the Vancouver Canucks in quick succession (January 5), the Edmonton Oilers (January 8) and Calgary Flames (January 11), would not have to make the week-long trip. Because that trip was canceled, the Bateman Tour also saw fit to postpone the Islanders’ game against the Kraken in Seattle on Tuesday.
The Vegas Golden Knights, who had to cross the border to face the Oilers (January 14) and the Whelms (January 15), saw these games postponed.
Finally, the match between the Oilers and the Jets, which had been scheduled for January 16 in Winnipeg, was postponed to a later date.
No date has been announced for these games to resume, but the NHL wants to do so “when measures are relaxed or withdrawn”.
Additionally, a showdown between the Senators and the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Saturday night is still on the schedule.