WHL doing the COVID-19 shuffle

Dylan Guenther, left, and the Oil Kings have had games postponed.

The Prince Albert Raiders are fortunate to have played all 32 games that were on their schedule to date, but we might soon see how long that lasts.

On Tuesday morning, the WHL issued a release stating team activities for the Edmonton Oil Kings, Moose Jaw Warriors and Red Deer Rebels were paused as a result of multiple players and staff being added to the WHL COVID-19 Protocol List. That resulted in a total of five games involving those clubs being postponed.

Since returning from a traditional league-wide Christmas break, the WHL has been doing the coronavirus shuffle.

The first indication that the WHL schedule after the Christmas hiatus could likely have bumps came on December 27, 2021 about 65 minutes before the first games after the break hit the ice. Before those first games took place, the WHL issued a release that introduced the WHL COVID-19 Protocol List and noted 36 players and hockey operations staffers were on the list at that time.

Persons are added to the list if they exhibit symptoms or test positive for COVID-19. The WHL has elected to not list names that are on the WHL COVID-19 Protocol List.

This column of mine appeared in the Prince Albert Daily Herald. To read the full article, feel free to click the link right here.