NHL Pauses Season For Boston Bruins And Predators Until Dec. 26

The Boston Bruins have been shut down until at least December 26 the NHL announced Saturday afternoon.

The NHL released a statement at 2:25 PM ET Saturday announcing that games for the Bruins and Nashville Predators had been postponed until at least a week from tomorrow. The Colorado Avalanche and Calgary Flames already had their seasons paused until after Christmas too.

SCHEDULE UPDATE: @NHLBruins, @PredsNHL shut down through Holiday Break; three additional games also postponed.

Details: https://t.co/NrfDn0VdNy pic.twitter.com/unKlyrNCip

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) December 18, 2021

On Friday, the NHL postponed the Bruins-Canadiens game scheduled to take place Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal and then announced that the Bruins’ game against the Colorado Avalanche next Thursday was also postponed. Earlier in the day, the Boston Bruins canceled their scheduled practice a half-hour after the scheduled 10:30 AM start. A half-hour after that Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe tweeted that the Boston Bruins-Ottawa Senators game Sunday at the Canadian Tire Centre was postponed. With the confirmation from the league of that game and any until Dec. 26, that brings to a total of four postponed gams for the Boston Bruins. Tonight’s game against the Habs, Sunday against the Sens, Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes, and Thursday against the Av’s.

The Bruins-Sens game wasn’t the only game that was postponed Saturday as shortly after that, word broke that the Vancouver Canucks’ next two games – Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Sunday against the Arizona Coyotes – were also postponed. In addition to that, the Leafs’ next game against the Seattle Kraken in Seattle on Sunday was postponed.

Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney was set to address the media later in the day.

We will have more on this later in the day but as game after game was postponed on Saturday, the chatter of an NHL Pause until December 27 grew louder and louder.

This past Sunday and less than 24 hours after the Boston Bruins beat the Calgary Flames in Calgary late Saturday night, news broke that six Calgary Flames had tested positive for COVID. On Tuesday morning, the Bruins announced that wingers Craig Smith and Brad Marchand were placed in COVID protocol. On Wednesday, Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron joined Marchand and Smith as the league-wide COVID outbreak, with confirmed Omicron cases, spread like wildfire. On Thursday morning, forwards Anton Blidh, Trent Frederic, and Jeremy Swayman – as well as a B’s staff member — were placed on COVID protocol as well. The shorthanded Bruins still had to play the New York Islanders Thursday night though and as expected, they lost to the Isles 3-1.

As of 3 PM ET, there was no word yet on whether or not any more Bruins players or staff members had been placed in COVID protocol.

*UPDATE** The Boston Bruins announced at 4 PM ET that forwards Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar were placed in COVID protocol.