VANCOUVER -- An additional player from the Vancouver Canucks is in the National Hockey League's COVID-19 Protocol, and the team will not be reopening its practice facilities Sunday as a result, the league said in a statement.
Players on the league's COVID-19 Protocol list have not necessarily tested positive for the coronavirus, though previous reports have indicated that a total of 21 Canucks players and four others associated with the team have tested positive.
The league announced Saturday that the team would return to the ice on Sunday, pending the results of further COVID-19 testing.
For now, the Canucks are still scheduled to play a game against the Edmonton Oilers on April 16, the league said.
Vancouver has not played a game since before March 31, the date on which forward Adam Gaudette was pulled out of practice following positive test results.
The team has missed a total of seven games since then, as more and more players have found themselves on the protocol list.
Saturday's announcement from the league asserted that the Canucks would complete all of the rescheduled games, finishing a full, 56-game schedule by May 16.
In its statement on Sunday, the league said the team's practice facilities would reopen Monday "at the earliest."
Medical groups from the league, the players' union and the club determined that keeping the facilities closed for an additional day would be "the prudent decision," even though the player added to the list has not been around the team since March 31, the NHL said in its statement.
When the NHL released the protocol list later in the day Sunday, centre Jay Beagle was the new name on it from the Canucks. Gaudette's name had been removed from the list.
