As the 2021 NHL season begins this afternoon, fans around the league are excited to cheer on their teams in this unprecedented season. However, one lingering question remains: Will the NHL and Islanders be able to finish their season due to COVID-19?

The NFL finished its regular season and is currently in the postseason. Although the NFL had 18 games rescheduled due to COVID-19, but there were zero cancellations.

The NBA just recently kicked off their season and are facing issues with COVID-19 as well, as there has been a flurry of postponements over the last week. The Boston Celtics had their third consecutive game postponed. The Dallas Mavericks game against the New Orleans Pelicans has been postponed, as well as with the Washington Wizards’ game against the Utah Jazz. The Philadelphia 76ers recently had to play an NBA game with only seven active players.

The NHL season has not even officially begun yet, and 27 players on nine teams have tested positive, including 17 players on the Dallas Stars.

COVID-19 outbreaks during the regular season is an inevitable reality that the NHL has to face.

In the NFL and NBA, when players come to the bench, they put a mask on. The plausibility of that occurring in the NHL is very low. In both the NFL and NBA, players can be on the bench for extended periods. In the NHL, players can be on the bench for mere seconds before they go back on the ice and change quickly and unpredictably at all times during the game.

If one person on an NHL roster gets COVID-19, the whole team will likely have an outbreak.

The NFL had numerous COVID outbreaks during the season; the NBA is dealing with a COVID outbreak right now. Compared to the NHL, both the NFL and NBA have better advantages to contain COVID than the NHL. The NFL mostly plays outside where COVID is harder to spread. The NBA has smaller rosters and can make sure players wear masks on the sidelines. However, the NHL plays indoors; the players are all neck and neck with each other on the bench, breathing right onto one another.

The only benefit to the Dallas Stars COVID outbreak is that when the other NHL teams have their COVID outbreaks during the regular season, the Stars will have already gone through theirs.

This season will present a new challenge for the New York Islanders and the other NHL teams, finding success while keeping the whole team free of COVID-19. If the team does experience an outbreak, it is unclear whether the NHL will still require them to play with fewer players or the NHL allow them time to get their outbreak under control.

This leads us to another question: If NHL teams have too many COVID-19 outbreaks and postponements, will the NHL cancel the season? We would hope not, but there are no guarantees of anything regarding this season.

Ethan Halle

Ethan is an Economics Major at the University of Florida looking to pursue a double major in Sports Management with a minor in political science.