Canadiens Now Have League-High 22 Players In COVID Protocol

The Montreal Canadiens added two more players to their COVID protocol list on Wednesday and now lead the league with 22 players unable to play or practice due to COVID protocol.

Montreal Canadiens forwards Cameron Hillis and Michael Pezzetta to the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol list on Wednesday. Here is an updated list of Canadiens players and staff on COVID Protocol that seems to be growing at an almost daily pace:

Artturi Lehkonen (Dec. 18), Laurent Dauphin (Dec. 19), Mike Hoffman (Dec. 20), Tyler Toffoli (Dec. 27), Jake Allen (Dec. 27), Ben Chiarot (Dec. 27), Joel Edmundson (Dec. 27), Jeff Petry (Dec. 27), Chris Wideman (Dec. 27), goalie coach Eric Raymond (Dec. 27), Paul Byron (Dec. 29), Cayden Primeau (Dec. 29), Louie Belpedio (Dec. 30), Gianni Fairbrother (Dec. 30), Brandon Baddock (Dec. 31), Jake Evans (Jan. 1), Alexander Romanov (Jan. 1), Rafaël Harvey-Pinard (Jan. 4), Jesse Ylönen (Jan. 4), David Savard (Jan. 4), Samuel Montembeault (Jan. 4), Trevor Letowski (assistant coach, Jan. 4), Cameron Hillis (Jan. 5), Michael Pezzetta (Jan. 5)

Pezzetta has a goal, two assists, and 35 minutes in penalties in 21 games with the Canadiens this season. Hillis has played just one game for the Montreal Canadiens, drawing into the lineup and playing 10:15 for the Habs in their 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on New Year’s Day.

Thankfully for the Montreal Canadiens, they have until next Wednesday, when they play the Boston Bruins in Boston, to get as many of these players as possible out of COVID Protocol. Speaking of the Canadiens’ schedule, the NHL announced on Wednesday, that in addition to two other league games, the Habs’ next scheduled home game, against the New Jersey Devils on Jan. 15 has been postponed. A makeup date will be determined for that game and six others that have been postponed due to the team’s COVID outbreak and the virus still running rampant throughout the NHL and North America.

The only postponed Montreal Canadiens game to be rescheduled has been that January 12 game against the Bruins that was originally supposed to be played at the Bell Centre and will now take place at TD Garden in Boston. That game actually took the place of the Habs’ March 21 game at Boston.

The Canadiens are now set to play their next seven games on the road and aren’t scheduled to play at the Bell Centre again until Jan. 27 against the Anaheim Ducks.