"It's quite unfair": Canucks coach Boudreau frustrated by Canadian border rules
Bruce Boudreau is feeling increasingly frustrated by the different rules Canadian NHL teams have to adhere to due to COVID-19.
The Vancouver Canucks are now without both of their goalies, after All-Star netminder Thatcher Demko landed on the COVID list on Thursday. Jaroslav Halak has been out since January 15, but is still in protocol.
Had Halak tested positive in Canada, he might be able to play tonight. But instead, he landed on the COVID list six days ago in North Carolina.
So Boudreau is forced to turn to 26-year-old AHL goalie Spencer Martin, who has just three games of NHL experience. Michael DiPietro, at age 22 and two games of NHL experience, will be backing him up tonight.
Compounding things is that J.T. Miller also tested positive, joining Bo Horvat and Conor Garland on the COVID list. That’s three of the team’s top four scorers missing.
Just when Horvat, Garland, and Halak will be able to return was still a mystery to Boudreau on Thursday. The trio tested positive during the Canucks’ road trip in the United States, which makes matters more difficult.
The Canucks found that out the hard way when Brock Boeser, Phil Di Giuseppe, and Justin Dowling returned home after testing positive during a US road trip in December. They each completed five-day quarantines in the United States, but were told at the border that they needed to quarantine for an additional 10 days.
It’s a frustration that Canadian NHL teams have to deal with more than their American counterparts, given how frequently they have to cross the border to play games.
“This whole border thing, it’s quite unfair, quite frankly,” Boudreau said after practice on Thursday. “For Canadian teams that have a lot of games across the border, if it’s anything like Boeser, it was 14 or 15 days. For the guys that got it yesterday (Demko and Miller), it could be five days.”
BC reduced the requirement to self-isolate after testing positive to five days for vaccinated people without symptoms late last month, but the rules change if you’re crossing the border.
“I know the government rules and that, but I have a hard time understanding how COVID in the States is different from COVID in Canada. When they cross the border, all of a sudden it turns into a 10-day quarantine here rather than a five-day quarantine in the States, (which) isn’t as good as a five-day quarantine in Canada. So it’s just frustrating, I guess.”
Demko and Miller are the 17th and 18th Canucks players to land on the COVID list since December 14.
With Omicron appearing to have peaked in Canada, some are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. Boudreau’s not so sure.
“If there’s a light, I wish it would get brighter! It’s pretty dim light right now! Most of the guys have had it… so hopefully this is it. Hopefully nobody else gets it.”
#Canucks line rushes at morning skate on Friday, ahead of the #FlaPanthers game as I saw them from the broadcast gondola:
Höglander-Pettersson-Boeser
Highmore-Lammikko-Motte
Pearson-Dickinson-Chiasson
Bailey-Dries-PodkolzinOEL-Myers
Hughes-Poolman
Hunt-Schenn pic.twitter.com/FjCSD8sqtJ— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) January 21, 2022
The Canucks will have a less than desirable lineup dressing for tonight’s game against the league-leading Florida Panthers at Rogers Arena, as shown above by Thomas Drance of The Athletic.
How the players will perform depends on their mindset, Boudreau explained.
“How does it impact us? I mean, it depends on your attitude, I guess. For some guys, they might be going: ‘Hey, I get more ice time. This should be great. I get a chance to prove myself.’ For the guys that you really end up not wanting on your team, it’s: ‘Woe is me. How can we win without all our good players, our best players, being out?’
“So it depends on your attitude. If you saw practice today, they came out with the attitude that we’ll show everybody we can win with what we have and whoever’s in the lineup.”
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