DENVER – By starting a new season at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL signed up to take a run at the unprecedented.
The Wild was largely unaffected through January, but now is in limbo after an apparent outbreak of COVID-19. It became the sixth NHL team to be shut down this season, with games postponed at least through the middle of next week.
On Thursday, the team the Wild played in three consecutive games, the Colorado Avalanche, became the seventh team to go on hiatus.
"We are mindful of the fact that we might be seeing a more aggressive transmission of the virus," Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement released Thursday, "and will continue to make adjustments to our Protocols."
Center Nico Sturm was added to the NHL's COVID-19 protocols list Thursday, joining teammates Nick Bjugstad, Nick Bonino, Joel Eriksson Ek, Marcus Johansson, Jared Spurgeon and Marcus Foligno.
The team flew home from Colorado on Thursday, but players in the protocols traveled separately. The league does not announce whether players on the list have tested positive for the virus, but those players can't practice, play or travel with the team until getting cleared from the league's protocols.
During this pause, the team's training facilities are closed and players will be quarantining while continuing to undergo daily testing.
Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was added to the protocols list Thursday, and the Colorado Department of Health played a role in the NHL determining that "caution was warranted" while awaiting more test results.