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- Paducah, Ky
Blues notebook: Team adjusts to tightened COVID protocols
NHL goes back to protocols similar to last season in an effort to get a handle on recent COVID spike.
www.stltoday.com
Jim Thomas
When the Blues embark on a three-game, six-day road trip Saturday, it will seem a lot like last season. And that’s not a good thing.
In response to the recent spike in COVID cases throughout the NHL, the league is tightening protocols. It means a routine of home, rink, hotel. Daily testing except for off days. Virtual team meetings. And the return of wearing masks at team facilities.
On the road, it means no dining out in restaurants, an important means of team-bonding. And a favorite pastime of the Blues away from home.
“We understand it ‘cause we went through it already,” coach Craig Berube said. “There’s a lot of COVID going around in the league right now, so the NHL’s trying to do their best to make it better.”
A few weeks ago, the league announced that it was banning players and staff from attending holiday parties or attending community and charity events.
There will be another reminder of COVID hockey from last season on the upcoming trip for the Blues. Lots of empty seats. After the NHL spent last season playing before either no crowds or limited crowds, the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs have announced they will limit capacity to 50 percent as a COVID precaution starting Saturday.
Blues broadcasters to stay home for upcoming trip
Games in Canada will be called off of TV monitors in St. Louis.
www.stltoday.com
BY DAN CAESAR St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Blues begin a three-game swing through Canada on Sunday, and as was the case the last time they went north of the border their broadcasters will not accompany the team.
Coronavirus regulations have been much tighter there than in the U.S., so Bally Sports Midwest’s telecasts and the team’s radio broadcasts — which air on WXOS (101.1 FM) — will be handled by the announcers calling the games in St. Louis off TV monitors.
“I’m not looking forward to doing those three games that way, but I understand the circumstances,” said Blues radio play-by-play announcer Chris Kerber, who also is the team’s vice president of broadcasting.
Those “circumstances” could include announcers being quarantined in Canada if they’d have a positive COVID-19 test while there. That could extend over the Christmas holiday and possibly through New Year’s Day, when the Blues play in the Winter Classic. That game, in Minnesota, won’t be on local TV (it’s a national TNT telecast) but will be done by the local radio crew.
“It’s not worth the risk,” Kerber said. ”It makes sense out of the abundance of caution.”
STREAMING ONLY FRIDAY: For the third time this season, on Friday a Blues game will be carried exclusively on the ESPN+ and Hulu streaming services. There will be no customary TV coverage of the contest, a home matchup with Dallas at 7 p.m.
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Lets Go Blues
Next game on Bally Sports is a road game on Sunday 12/19/21 @ 2 pm CT against the Winnipeg Jets.....................