Monday’s Game at St. Louis Postponed

Merry Christmas everyone! If you are celebrating today, here’s hoping your Christmas Day is going well and you are spending time with family, friends and loved ones.

Unfortunately, some sobering news about the world outside of us as Sam Kasan wrote on the Devils’ official blog – a post that appeared on the team’s app – that the NHL has postponed the Monday night game between the Devils and the hometown St. Louis Blues on December 27.

Kasan wrote that the NHL wants to “analyze League-wide results and to assess Clubs’ readiness to play” as he quoted from a “league release.”

The makeup date is to be determined, but the NHL now has the two-week former-Olympic break in February to work with as it was announced this past week that the NHL will not be participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. The league will instead use that period to make up games that have been previously postponed due to COVID-19 precautions.

According to Kasan, NHL clubs “are permitted to return to practice on Dec. 26 and any further updates on the league’s return to play will be provided by “the end of day on Sunday.””

So far, the Devils game at the Buffalo Sabres on December 29 – their next scheduled game – is still on. That could, of course, change by Sunday evening.

The 2022 World Junior Championship, slated to begin on Sunday as well, will be proceeding as scheduled. Fan attendance at Rogers Place in Edmonton and WP Centrium in Red Deer will be at about 50-percent capacity, but things should be good to go for the time being.

Tomorrow will see plenty of action as Finland will face Germany and the Czechs will take on Canada in Group A in Edmonton while Russia and Sweden and the USA and Slovakia will faceoff with each other in Group B action in Red Deer.

We will have coverage here, although the post will go up late as the games are Alberta time and, thus will get done after midnight or so here on the East Coast.

Again, a merry Christmas to everyone!

AHL All-Star Classic Canceled for 2022

According to a news item on the American Hockey League’s official website (TheAHL.com), the 2022 AHL All-Star Classic has been “postponed” beyond 2022.

The event was originally scheduled for February 6 and 7, 2022 at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec and will not be held this season. The announcement was made by AHL President and CEO Scott Howson.

Howson said that the postponement was “due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.”

Howson was directly quoted as saying: “The Laval Rocket and Place Bell have done an outstanding job preparing to host our All-Star Classic festivities this year. But with the event only six weeks away and faced with ongoing challenges pertaining to health and safety, international travel, and group gatherings, the League and the Rocket organization feel it is in everybody’s best interests to postpone the event. We remain committed to bringing the All-Star Classic to Laval in the future.”

President of Sports and Entertainment at Groupe CH (Laval’s ownership), France Margaret Belanger added: “Postponing the All-Star Classic for a second year is disappointing, but unfortunately unavoidable in the circumstances. This is one of the most prestigious events in the AHL and we look forward to hosting this major event at Place Bell. We are very grateful to our fans and partners for their loyalty during this difficult time. We also want to thank the American Hockey League for their confidence and their collaboration on this project.”

This is the second straight year that the AHL has attempted to bring their All-Star Classic to Laval and the second straight year that COVID has wiped it out. The 2021 event was to be held in the same building but when the 20219-20 AHL season was ended early and the 2020-21 season needed to be readjusted, the 2021 All-Star Classic was a casualty.

The announcement of the cancelation of the 2021 Classic was made in August of 2020, and the 2022 game was immediately awarded to Laval as a make good from the AHL.

Time will tell if the third time is a charm or if the AHL or Laval push things down the road a bit and do not attempt to bring the game to the city next year.