The NHL made it official today, the 2019-2020 regular season is on hold.
As per someone on the Board of Governors call with the NHL, the season has officially been paused.
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 12, 2020
Reports surfaced early that this would likely happen when the NHL advised teams to not hold morning skates, practices, or team meetings while they decided what to do in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Given the uncertainty regarding next steps regarding the coronavirus, Clubs are advised not to conduct morning skates, practices or team meetings today.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) March 12, 2020
From that point, the writing was on the wall after the NBA, along with several other global professional sports leagues, either postponed, suspended, or outright canceled their seasons and playoffs.
Normally, this would be a space for us to make a joke, mock an opposing team or fanbase, but we’re not going to do that today.
There’s no doubt you’ve seen someone on your Facebook or Twitter feed telling you to relax and that this is simply media outrage and hysteria to manipulate people.
As someone that works in professional media as his actual job away from blogging, I’m here to tell you, it is not.
It’s a global pandemic that is spreading and there is a struggle in North America right now to contain it.
Sure, it may not affect you in the immediate and it may never affect you in the long run. However, it isn’t about just you.
It’s about your elderly relative or your loved one’s elderly relative. It’s about someone in your life or a loved one’s life that’s battling cancer or some other horrendous disease that leaves them immunocompromised.
It would be the height of stupidity for the National Hockey League to pack tens of thousands of people in a tight space during this outbreak.
We don’t know when the NHL will return. Some think it could be a couple of weeks, some think it could be a couple of months.
Who knows.
Until then, take care of yourself, your loved ones, and those around you.
Wash your hands, clean frequently used items, and for the love of all things holy, if you’re sick and have the ability, stay home.
We’ll be here when the puck drops again.
Go Pens.
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