There is a good chance that the Canucks may not finish the 2020-2021 season. The reason for this is the big COVID-19 outbreak they had were 21 players got sick. Unfortunately, this outbreak is due to a variant that spreads very fast and can be hard to track. On March 31, the Canucks had to postpone their first of many games due to the outbreak.
Due to the postponement, and an already shorter season is it might make it hard to get those games back to complete a full season. With the season starting January 13 it was almost amazing that the NHL made it almost 4 months without an outbreak this bad. Another concern with the outbreak is whether the players are ready to go back or not. Based on what some of the Canucks players have been saying it is unlikely they are ready to return.
The players may be cleared of COVID-19 but experiencing some breathing problems that might make them tire faster or not have the energy they would normally have. It would be really unfair to put those returning players who have had a long break back and still feeling unwell back into games against teams and players that have been going at full speed and top health. The big question for the NHL is can the Canucks finish the season?
A lot of people think they can but it is going too hard for them to make the playoffs if they are not ready to go at 100%. Some of the sick players gave COVID-19 to their families and it was already mentally tough for these guys to be away from their family for so long. Now they might have concerns if they feel going back to play is safe for them and their families.
This can also be a make-or-break point for the league if they handle this situation wrong. Other teams are watching how they handle this and may not support the NHL’s response to the outbreak. I feel the Canucks should not go back. It would be fun to watch Canucks hockey again, but the safety of the players and their families is more important.
sources
https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/canucks-players-mostly-side-covid-19-outbreak/
https://theprovince.com/sports/covid-19-another-canuck-joins-the-growing-covid-19-protocol-list