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No, the NHL isn’t punishing the Philadelphia Flyers

By Ashley Lawson

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 31: Travis Sanheim #6 of the Philadelphia Flyers blocks a shot by Anders Lee #27 of the New York Islanders during the third period at Wells Fargo Center on January 31, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 31: Travis Sanheim #6 of the Philadelphia Flyers blocks a shot by Anders Lee #27 of the New York Islanders during the third period at Wells Fargo Center on January 31, 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia Flyers have been subject to a plethora of news regarding COVID-19 recently. It started off with two games against the New Jersey Devils being postponed, due to the severity of the outbreak within the Devils organization. Now, though, we have received news that Travis Sanheim has been placed into Covid-19 protocol, and tonight’s game against the Washington Capitals has been postponed.

Something that has been noticed when it comes to this kind of news, a lot of fellow fans on social media seem to believe that the league is out to get the Flyers; that this is some sort of punishment from the National Hockey League.

The reality is that the league is not out to get the Flyers. I know that sometimes it feels as though they are, such as when we see the referees missing would-be penalties or when our favorite players are being omitted from the end-of-season “Best Of” lists. I can promise you that the rescheduling and postponement of games have nothing to do with the league “hating the Flyers.”

We need to be realistic. They are playing a contact sport in the middle of a pandemic. This isn’t a league or sport-specific issue, either. The WNHL, NBA, NFL, to name a few, have all had their fair share of outbreaks and postponements.

The NHL went into this season knowing that COVID-19 outbreaks were likely to happen. They created many protocols to hopefully decrease the likelihood of an outbreak, which have already seen some revisions due to the steady increase in players testing positive.

Currently, 31 games have been postponed. Numerous other teams in the league are struggling with current outbreaks that have led to game postponements. This is a league-wide situation that will more than likely keep occurring as the season continues.

We must hope that the players who test positive are able to come back as healthy as they were before they received their positive test and that the players who have tested negative will continue to test negative. We want our players to be healthy, and that applies to more than just injuries.

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