A Look At The NHL’s History With Health Crises As Coronavirus Halts Play

When the Rangers left the ice following their 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday, they did so knowing it could potentially be their last game for the foreseeable future.

Hours earlier, the NBA suspended its season in the wake of Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19). During the post-game press conference (a new policy instituted last week after the NHL closed dressing rooms to media), a reporter raised the issue of the outbreak to Rangers defenseman Marc Staal.

“I mean, obviously, we want to keep playing,” Staal said. “But if it’s a health risk to people – smarter people than us make decisions like that and if those decisions are made, then we just gotta live with it and go from there.”

And less than 24 hours later, that decision has been made. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced Thursday the 2019-20 NHL season will be indefinitely paused due to “ongoing developments resulting from the coronavirus.” Hockey’s highest professional level joins the NBA, MLB and MLS in American pro sports leagues suspending play due to the spread of the virus. The NHLPA expressed support for the league’s decision in a statement released shortly after.

While the spread of the COVID-19 strain of coronavirus, which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic Wednesday, is one of the most severe health crises the NHL has ever dealt with, there have been comparable situations in the past. The league had to fight off the mumps twice in the last decade and lost the 1919 Stanley Cup Final to the wave of Spanish flu.

The mumps outbreaks of 2014-15 And 2016-17

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website, the mumps is a contagious disease with symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, loss of appetite and the swelling of the salivary glands. There’s no treatment, nor does it usually result in permanent damage (there are rare, extreme cases where it caused sterility, brain swelling and deafness in men); the virus runs its course over a 7-to-10-day span. Both Canada and the United States vaccinate for the disease, and two shots are effective 88 percent of the time (although immunization eventually fades).

However, the disease had the potential to wreak havoc around the NHL. It’s spread through saliva and mucus in close quarters and can be picked up by something as simple as sharing a water bottle.

The first mumps outbreak occurred during the 2014-15 season. Sidney Crosby highlighted a group of 24 infected players across six teams, as well as two on-ice officials. The Rangers were one of the clubs involved – Tanner Glass, Derick Brassard, Lee Stempniak and Joey Crabb (with AHL Hartford) all exhibited symptoms or were officially diagnosed, according to ESPN. No games were canceled, and eventually, the league got the situation under control.

Another occurred just over two years later. Vancouver Canucks defenseman Troy Stecher received an official diagnosis, while six other players and a trainer exhibited symptoms, according to USA Today. Also, the Minnesota Wild saw two star players, Zach Parise and Jason Pominville, and assistant coach Scott Stevens diagnosed and placed under quarantine. The U.S. experienced a spike in mumps cases from 2015 to 2017, according to the CDC. Almost 14,000 cases were reported. Still, no NHL games were canceled.

Spanish flu cancels the Stanley Cup in 1919

A more grim situation occurred during the 1919 Stanley Cup Final between the Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Metropolitans, according to Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times.

The CDC website labels the 1918 influenza pandemic as “the most severe in recent history.” After first being identified in the spring of that year, the CDC estimated that roughly 500 million people, a third of the world’s population at the time, contracted the virus. The total death toll was approximated at 50 million, with 675,00 occurring in the United States.

With a tied series at 2-2-1, Seattle and Montreal were set to play a decisive Game 6. The health department canceled the game hours before puck drop. Five Canadiens players, along with coach George Kennedy, were hospitalized with severe fevers. Seattle also saw two of its players and its coach, Pete Muldoon, suffer the affliction.

Montreal defenseman Joe Hall died several days later. He was 37, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and survived by his wife and three children. Kennedy would pass away two years later, having never fully recovered from the virus. Muldoon died a decade later of a heart attack, and as Baker wrote, “It’s long been suspected his Spanish flu bout weakened his heart.”

Warning signs were evident earlier in the series, according to Baker. Players were visibly collapsing during Game 4, which ended up being a scoreless tie. The clubs agreed to extend the best-of-five series if need be, which happened after a noticeably exhausted Seattle team allowed Montreal to even things up.

The series was never completed. In 1948, the NHL updated the vacant inscription on the Stanley Cup trophy to list both team names and “series not completed,” according to Sports Illustrated.

COVID-19 suspends the 2019-20 season

In just a few weeks, the NHL has moved from exploring contingency plans to entirely halting play. Along the way, the league restricted its employees from traveling, and after a Santa Clara County ban on gatherings of 1000-plus, the San Jose Sharks almost played home games in front of an empty arena.

There’s a chance the NHL returns sometime this spring, but the “situation is fluid,” according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. The AHL and CHL have followed suit, indefinitely postponing play as well. For now, the NHL made the right call to prioritize player, employee and fan safety by suspending the season.

“Public health and safety are a priority at a time like this,” said Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid, according to Sporting News Canada. “As players, we support the NHL and NHLPA’s decision to suspend the season for the safety of the teams and their fans. We look forward to the day we can get back playing the game we love in front of full arenas.”