Last time the Canes and Flames met, COVID chaos followed. What the matchup looks like now
.JPG "Carolina Hurricanes’ Martin Necas (88), of the Czech Republic, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi (82), of Finland, vie for the puck against Vancouver Canucks’ Kyle Burroughs (44) and Elias Pettersson (40), of Sweden, during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)")
Martin Necas is one of the few Carolina Hurricanes players who has yet to be on the NHL’s COVID protocol list.
It could be the result of taking all the proper COVID safeguards, wearing a mask and being smart about things, and about who he’s around away from the rink. Necas also knows it could be the luck of the draw, so to speak, with so many of the forward’s teammates having tested positive for the highly contagious virus.
“You’ve got to be careful,” Necas said Thursday. “Right now, it just feels like it’s part of your life. It’s kind of like the flu. It seems like everybody’s getting it. Somebody doesn’t have symptoms, somebody has them.
“You want to be careful because you don’t want to be out of a game.”
The Hurricanes (23-7-1) have had a good chunk of players miss games because of COVID-19. So have the Calgary Flames, who face the Canes on Friday at PNC Arena.
“We’ve been living this for two years, so there’s not much more to be said,” Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour said Thursday. “We still have maybe seven guys who haven’t had it. Every day, you just don’t know.
“I think we’re doing the best we can. Is it inevitable? Probably, that it’s going to get everybody because it just seems to be that way. But again, we’re doing the best we can.”
Canes COVID woes started in Calgary
So much has happened since the last time the Canes and Flames played.
Canes center Sebastian Aho scored twice, including the overtime winner, in a 2-1 victory on Dec. 9 in Calgary.
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Three days later, Aho felt ill and missed the Canes’ game in Vancouver. The next day, Aho and forward Seth Jarvis were placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol and went into quarantine in Vancouver.
Canes forwards Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov and Steven Lorentz, and defenseman Ian Cole went on the COVID list Dec. 14. Later, goalie Frederik Andersen, forward Jesper Fast and defenseman Brendan Smith were added to the list.
For Staal, the Canes captain, it was the second time in 2021 that he had tested positive for COVID-19 — the first time coming in January. Fast also has been on the COVID list twice, and Svechnikov said Wednesday his recent bout with COVID was his second, adding the symptoms were much milder the second time than the first.
“It hit me pretty hard the first time,” Svechnikov said.
Andersen went into the COVID protocol on Dec. 23 and said his symptoms were not bad, adding, “I felt way worse when I had the flu.”
Andersen returned to practice New Year’s Eve but was quickly needed when the Columbus Blue Jackets broke out to a 3-0 lead Saturday. Brind’Amour decided to pull starter Antti Raanta. Just like that, Andersen was back in the net — and the winning goalie as the Canes surged to a 7-4 victory. That came sooner than expected but Andersen made the most of it in picking up his 17th win of the season.
“You do what you can to be as good as you can when you do go back in the net,” Andersen said Thursday. “I was just trying to stay ready. But without being on the ice, it’s obviously pretty hard. In that game I was just focusing on getting my feet back under myself and feeling confident again after sitting on the couch for eight or 10 days.”
Could have been worse
The Flames’ COVID issues have had been even more disruptive.
On Dec. 13, they had three games postponed after six players went on the COVID list. Within three days, the Flames had 19 players, three coaches and nine staff members in the protocol, forcing the NHL to shut down the team through the holiday break.
The Flames (17-9-6) did not play from Dec. 11 to Dec. 30, finally getting back on the ice against the Seattle Kraken. Calgary won 6-4, then blasted the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 before a 6-2 loss Tuesday at Florida. The Flames played Thursday at Tampa Bay, losing 4-1.
Both the Canes and Flames would like to think the worst is behind them. But there’s no way of knowing what’s ahead, with the omicron variant sweeping through North America and the NHL still postponing games — the Canes have six contests to make up — and trying to rearrange its master schedule.
Brind’Amour has said it’s “hold your breath every day” as COVID tests are done and results are awaited. “Nobody is immune to getting it,” he added.
No one is claiming the Canes’ trip to Calgary in early December led to their COVID problems. Defensemen Ethan Bear, Brett Pesce and Tony DeAngelo were the first Canes to test positive in late November.
The NHL has since changed its protocol to reduce the number of required days in quarantine, while also saying teams must adhere to their local COVID restrictions.
Carolina Hurricanes vs Calgary Flames
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh.
TV/RADIO: Bally Sports South, WCMC-99.9 FM
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Last time the Canes and Flames met, COVID chaos followed. What the matchup looks like now."
