National Hockey League News

Former Vancouver Canucks forward Jake Virtanen has signed a one-year contract with Spartak Moscow of the KHL, multiple outlets reported Tuesday.

The federal government is poised to approve a travel exemption for the Stanley Cup playoffs that would allow U.S. teams to enter Canada if they adhere to a strict regimen of daily COVID-19 testing and remain in a bubble that includes team hotels and the arena. 

The Edmonton Oilers were forced to spend plenty of time at the team's hotel and on the practice ice this week when their three-game series against the Canadiens was postponed after two Montreal players were added to the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list.

Former NHLer Daniel Winnik among those who have signed a petition asking that Canadian professional hockey players returning home from overseas be placed on the COVID-19 essential travelers list and be exempt from a mandatory three-day hotel quarantine.

Quebec Premier Francois Legault says the province's public health measures shouldn't impact a resumption of activities for the NHL's Montreal Canadiens.

Thomas Harley has hockey "bubble" know-how. When the Canadian team arrived in Edmonton for the world junior hockey championship, the 19-year-old defenceman's insider knowledge on setting up his video game console in his hotel room was in demand.

The close confines, daily COVID-19 testing, lack of freedom to venture beyond the security fences surrounding hotels and arenas in Edmonton and Toronto, and the separation from loved ones can weigh heavily on everyone.

Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask missed Saturday's practice and a disappointing 4-1 loss Sunday to the Philadelphia Flyers due to COVID-19 concerns, but the Finnish netminder is back after quarantining for two days in his hotel room.

It was certainly a very different world the evening of March 11, hours before the league would suspend its schedule, when the Los Angeles Kings beat the Ottawa Senators in what would turn out to be the final game of the 2019-20 regular season. Now, 142 days later, the NHL returns.

Almost 800 players and dozens more team staff have embarked on the completion of a 2019-20 season suspended on March 12 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A best-of-five qualifying round starts Saturday at Edmonton's Rogers Place and Toronto's Scotiabank Arena.