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Perhaps it’s a sign that life, or at least life in the National Hockey League, is returning to normal.
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With most teams having dealt with COVID-19 and the Omicron variant outbreak, and the mild impact of the virus, the NHL announced Tuesday that it would discontinue testing on asymptomatic individuals following the All-Star break early next month and that testing will only be required for cross-border travel and if a person develops symptoms.
A positive result would still necessitate entering COVID-19 protocol, and an isolation period of five days for a vaccinated individual — which had been reduced from 10 days by the NHL in late December.
All of this is pending that positive test results continue to decline within the NHL and requires an agreement from the NHL’s and NHLPA’s medical experts by Jan. 31.
But it is OK by the Calgary Flames, according to forward Blake Coleman, if that goes into effect.
“I think it’s great,” said the 30-year-old regarding the NHL’s news. “I think I speak for most people in our room and, hopefully, in the world where we’re just ready to move on and live life and have things be the way they should. And while we definitely respect that not everyone has asymptomatic experiences with the illness or pretty mild cases which we’ve seen throughout our team and the league with guys that I know, we’re all just ready to play and not be missing games for what we view as something that’s not (severe).”
Nearly the entire team, coaching and support staff tested positive in early December when the Omicron wave hit. They believe they’ve seen, and been through, the worst of it.
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Between their own outbreak, the impact on the NHL, and the arena attendance restrictions within the province of Alberta and Canada, it caused the postponement of 10 games in total.
But now, healthy and ready to eliminate unnecessary PCR testing, Coleman, echoing the thoughts of many, believes it makes sense to get back to normal.
It’s a move that follows the National Football League and National Basketball Association’s decision not to test asymptomatic individuals.
Currently, the NHL is operating under enhanced COVID-19 protocols, which include masking and social distancing, although restrictions have lifted quite significantly as teams come out of their own outbreaks. The NHL and NHLPA are will meet Jan. 31 to revisit protocols while the current preventative measures will remain in place in the short term.
The Flames have reported mild symptoms to asymptomatic cases among their infected players and staff, which is good news. And most haven’t needed testing anyway, due to NHL protocols on individuals who tested positive. The NHL states an individual doesn’t require testing for a period of 90 days after their last negative test.
Coleman and Matthew Tkachuk were the only two players who haven’t tested positive in this recent outbreak, although both players contracted COVID-19 in the past.
“I’ve played through the flu and felt worse than I did when I tested positive back in July,” Coleman said. “I think guys are ready to play. I think people have taken the steps to prevent things from getting out of control. But I think we’re in a place now where everybody feels pretty good about moving forward from this thing and getting the NHL and life back to where it should be.”
kanderson@postmedia.com
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