The NHL announced on Monday afternoon that they have received two positive COVID-19 tests out of a total of 2,618 tests administered over a five-day stretch between July 13-17.
In total, over 800 players were tested during that span, which was the start of Phase 3 of the NHL’s return-to-play plan, which surmounts to the beginning of postseason qualifiers on Aug. 1.
Phase 3 allowed teams to return to their facilities for full training camps.
The two players who tested positive — they will remain anonymous, per the NHL — were forced to self-isolate and are following CDC and Health Canada protocols.
Keeping the impacted names under wraps is the NHL keeping up with the likes of Major League Baseball and the NBA in not revealing those who tested positive.
It’s encouraging initial news for the NHL as they began the rather convoluted phase. One of the main concerns with Phase 3 was having each team training in their respective home cities before making their way to the bubble cities in Canada.
Coronavirus cases have continued spiking across the United States, which is where 24 of the 31 NHL teams are located while Canada continues maintaining promising COVID-19 numbers.
The Eastern Conference will play its games at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto while the West will head to Rogers Place in Edmonton.
