MONTREAL -- A Montreal Canadiens player has been infected with a variant of the novel coronavirus, leading to the team being shut down for at least a week.
General manager Marc Bergevin confirmed this in an update on the situation with the bleu-blanc-rouge on Thursday morning.
He also indicated that the Habs' season will be extended beyond the scheduled May 8 date in order to resume a portion of rescheduled games.
Bergevin expects "one or two games" of the four games rescheduled so far to be rescheduled after May 8.
The others will be inserted through the current schedule. Other games will also be moved when the team's schedule is reshaped.
Joel Armia and Jesperi Kotkaniemi were listed as unavailable due to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol on Monday night, shortly before a scheduled game between the Habs and Edmonton Oilers.
The other two games scheduled this week between the Habs and Oilers have been postponed, as well as the game against the Ottawa Senators that was scheduled for Sunday.
It is now known that either Armia or Kotkaniemi is the player infected with the coronavirus variant. The other player's name was placed on the NHL COVID-19 list due to close contact.
Bergevin added that the NHL's decision, made in conjunction with public health, to suspend the Habs' activities was made as a preventative measure. He noted that several players had had close contact with the infected person, and that the league preferred to err on the side of caution to avoid any possible transmission on the ice during a game.
Despite the state of the situation, Bergevin said he is confident the Habs will resume their season on Monday if the situation does not deteriorate.
He also noted that the coaching staff and physical trainers are organizing virtual activities to keep players active, even though the training centre remains closed.
-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2021.
