Morning Skate: Protocols

It is Wednesday, my dudes.

The NHL, like other pro sports leagues, has been trying to walk a COVID-19 tightrope for quite a while now.

Test or don’t? Isolate? Masks on the bench?

You can’t really fault the league (or the world in general) for trying to figure it out as they go along, given how new and uncertain all things COVID-19 tend to be.

You kind of have to make the best-intentioned decisions you can given the information you have, so that led to things like mandatory testing, being held out pending results, etc.

The league has decided to shift its approach once again this season, releasing the 2022-2023 protocols yesterday.

The entire document is quite long and detailed, but the gist of it appears to be that players will only be tested if symptomatic; if symptomatic, they’ll be tested daily for three days before being completely cleared.

Basically, as you all know from living on this planet, COVID-19 isn’t over, and there will continue to be guys placed in protocols from time to time.

However, it seems like things aren’t quite as strict as last season, which is fair, given how society in general is trying to evolve with the situation.

Anyways, this has been Infectious Disease Wednesday.

Today’s discussion topic

NHL Network says that Patrice Bergeron is the eighth-best center in the league.

Agree or disagree?