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By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
COVID-19 problems have prompted the Vegas Golden Knights vs St. Louis Blues game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas today to be postponed.
Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and another VGK coaching staff member have entered “the NHL COVID Protocols.” The novel coronavirus has led to the deaths of 425,000 Americans.
General Manager Kelly McCrimmon, who served as coach for Tuesday’s VGK 5-4 shootout loss to the Blues, said after the game that a member of the Golden Knights coaching staff had tested positive for COVID-19. That coaching staff member was not identified.
Here was the official statement from the Golden Knights emailed to LVSportsBiz.com this morning: “The National Hockey League announced today that as a result of a player and another member of the Vegas Golden Knights coaching staff entering the NHL’s COVID Protocols, the team’s game tonight against the St. Louis Blues will be postponed. The decision was made by the League’s, NHLPA’s and Club’s medical groups after recent tests warranted more caution while the League continues to analyze test results in the coming days.”
The team’s training facility at City National Arena in Downtown Summerlin is closed until further notice.
The team’s training facilities have been closed, effective immediately, and will remain closed until further notice. The League is in the process of reviewing and revising the Golden Knights’ regular season schedule and it is expected that a decision on next week’s games will be made in the next 24-48 hours. The Golden Knights organization has, and will continue to follow, all recommended guidelines aimed at protecting the health and safety of its Players, staff and community at large as set by the NHL, local, state and national agencies. — Vegas Golden Knights statement
Las Vegas sports have been hit by the novel coronavirus. The NHL fined the Raiders for protocol violations by coach Jon Gruden and Raiders players, while UNLV basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger also was infected with COVID-19 in December.
Other NHL players have also not played because also have been on the protocol list. Washington Capitals players Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dmitry Orlov and Ilya Samsonov were placed on the NHL list of players unavailable to play or practice in accordance with League COVID-19 protocols last week.
The Knights said no players tested positive when they played the postseason in the Edmonton bubble last year.
Just-retired Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland came off the bench to serve as an honorary coach of the Henderson Silver Knights practice Thursday. Here are his comments on that:
More Engelland: