Vancouver Canucks Brought to a Standstill by the Pandemic

According to The Province other players on the list include Jayce Hawryluk, Bo Horvat, Tyler Motte, Brandon Sutter, Tyler Myers, Thatcher Demko, Alex Edler, Quinn Hughes, Zack MacEwen, Antoine Roussel, Braden Holtby, Adam Gaudette, Travis Hamonic and Travis Boyd.

Boyd, whom the Canucks claimed off waivers from the Maple Leafs on March 22, was set to make his debut with the team on March 31. Getting “another opportunity with Vancouver was something he was really excited about,” Boyd’s agent, Ben Hankinson, said in an interview. “But more importantly probably the bigger picture is his health, everyone else’s health, the team’s health.”

Each player will be required to quarantine for a minimum of 10 days.

In British Columbia, as in other parts of Canada, Covid-19 cases have been surging in recent weeks. On Saturday, the province announced 1,072 new cases, a single-day record. There were also 871 variant cases of the virus recorded in B.C. over the past week.

Canada as a whole has been slower to vaccinate its population in comparison to the United States because of a shortage of doses.

“We are seeing increased transmission in B.C.,” Caroline Colijn, a Covid-19 modeler at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., said in an interview. “I think that just means there is an increased risk for exposure for anyone in any workplace obviously in a setting like the Vancouver Canucks.”

She added, “I think every in-person contact workplace is going to carry some risk in the middle of a pandemic.”

As the public health concern around British Columbia grows, so does the uncertainty around the remainder of the Canucks’ season. The N.H.L. has shifted the schedule numerous times since the condensed season began on Jan. 13 to accommodate dozens of games that have been postponed because of Covid protocols.