The NHL Learned From the Islanders COVID Issues

Unfortunately, the New York Islanders came out at the wrong end of a learning process from the NHL. As every single fan of the team can attest to, the NHL waited too long to put a pause on the Islanders season.

They were forced to play with cases continuing to rise over a week's span and eventually, the league finally stepped in when that number reached near double digits. It was the right call to pause, it was just too late.

Now, the NHL just a few weeks later has postponed games for the Calgary Flames after six players and one staff member entered COVID protocol within a 24-hour period.

It was the right move to do, as the league can't afford another shutdown and they've claimed to have the best interest of the players in mind throughout the entirety of the process. So while I'm glad that the NHL came to this decision, it's hard not to be a little frustrated at the same time.

Why did it take so long for the NHL to call it for the Islanders? Why didn't the Sharks get shut down for a small period of time? Both questions are fair and if the NHL had to do it over again I'd imagine the league would do it differently.

The reality is this, the league learned. Sure, it was at the expense of the Islanders which as a fan is extremely frustrating but in terms of what's the right thing to do in this particular circumstance and what's the right thing to do for the league going forward, the league got this one right.