Sunday CHN Puck Links: Avs hopeful of no more Covid cases

Happy Sunday to all. We’re into Day 3 of another Covid pause with the Avalanche, and it’s likely that the Vegas Golden Knights will tie or pass the Avs in points by the time they play their next scheduled game, Thursday in St. Louis. Yet, the Avs will have some games in hand on Vegas by then. The games next week in Vegas – should they be played – are looming large.

Colorado Hockey Now will be there, and thanks to several of you who have contributed to the Avalanche Travel Tip Jar for such initiatives. I have an Airbnb a block from the strip, at a reasonable rate.

There were no new Avs players added to the NHL’s Covid-19 protocol list on Saturday, after two straight days where there were. There remain three players – Bo Byram, Philipp Grubauer and Joonas Donskoi – still on the list as of Sunday morning. I’ll update this when the new list comes out in a couple of hours.

UPDATE: No new Avs players were added to the list.

The Avs, who received vaccinations last Monday, are cautiously hopeful that will be the last of their players to test positive. All three players are here in Denver, and I haven’t been told of anything worrisome about their current health. Let’s hope that stays that way.

To some links:

• During the NBC broadcast of the Penguins yesterday, Pierre McGuire dropped a little Sidney Crosby praise and a bit of a defense. He called Crosby “the most disrespected player in our game.”
• San Jose Hockey Now: Patrick Marleau tied Gordie Howe for the most games played in NHL history. 
• Vegas Hockey Now: After Fleury won #485, it was Robin Lehner’s turn to dominate Anaheim. 
• The NHL is playing with fire by making the Covid-ravaged Vancouver Canucks resume play, Larry Brooks writes (NY Post)
• RIP Johnny Peirson, former Bruins player and broadcaster. He and Fred Cusick were a dynamite duo broadcasting Bruins games when I was a wee lad (Boston Globe)
• Nice tribute to Peirson here, by Boston Hockey Now colleague Joe “Haggs” Haggerty (Boston Hockey Now)
• Second periods are a serious problem for the Blues right now (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Taylor Hall has been “unbelievable” for the Bruins since coming over (Boston.com)
• 10 players nobody expected to be among the league leaders by this point (Hockey News)

Finally, old friend Adam Foote and his wife, Jennifer, took in today’s Devils-Rangers game in New Jersey. Their son, Nolan, made his NHL debut for the Devils: