NHL To Officially Pause Season Until After Christmas

Due to the rise of COVID-19 cases in the league, the NHL will officially shut down on Wednesday December 22nd until after Christmas Day.

NHL, NHLPA agree to begin holiday break after Tuesday’s games, with players reporting back to teams on Dec. 26, and games resuming on Dec. 27: https://t.co/Lzb4dYhs86
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) December 21, 2021

Yesterday, we reported that this was very likely going to occur. Yet, it was originally expected to be shut down until December 27th, but the league has elected to go with the 26th instead. This change was made to ensure that enough testing can be done before players get back into game action. As a result of this, all players not in COVID-19 protocol will be heading back to team facilities then.

The NHL still has two scheduled games to play on Tuesday night at this juncture. The Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers are set to play at 7:00 PM ET, while the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights will be at 10:00 PM ET. However, there certainly is still potential that these two contests will end up being postponed as well before it.

Ultimately, the league deciding to shut down isn't very surprising with how much the virus is spreading. Still, though, it definitely stinks.