Penguins sideline 9 players due to potential secondary exposure to coronavirus
The Penguins will sideline nine unidentified players from their training camp roster because of exposure to an individual who had contact with a person who tested positive for the coronavirus.
The decision was announced minutes before their first practice of training camp in Cranberry on Monday.
According to a statement, the team became aware of the possible secondary exposure Sunday. The decision to hold the players out “was made out of an abundance of caution in an effort to avoid exposure to anyone else within the organization.”
The nine players will not participate until they are deemed safe in accordance with NHL protocol and further test results.
The team did not identify the players. There were 11 players absent from practice including forwards Anthony Angello, Patric Hornqvist, Adam Johnson, Sam Miletic, Sam Poulin, Phil Varone, defensemen Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Juuso Riikola, goaltenders Casey DeSmith, Alex D’Orio and Emil Larmi.
“It is just going to be part of this process,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’ve talked about a lot of it as staff, potential scenarios that could arise and how we would handle them and how we would react to them. It’s just one of those things that we’ve got to be ready to adjust and adapt (to) and that’s what we did out there today. I thought we had a real productive first day.”
Sidney Crosby said the absences did not make him pessimistic that the NHL will be able to return to competition.
“I’m optimistic,” Crosby said. “I think it’ll be an important time here the next few weeks to make sure we’re doing our best to stay out of trouble that way. We’re getting tested here every second day, I think it is. Everyone’s on top of it and making sure that we’re social distancing and all that stuff. We’re doing everything we can to avoid it and hopefully that’s able to be a success and we can get to the bubble healthy.”
The Penguins and 23 other teams opened training camps Monday in preparation for a postseason tournament beginning Aug. 1 to complete the 2019-20 season. The NHL has been on hiatus since March 12.
The NHL has adopted a policy of not identifying players who are injured or ill during camps or games.
The Penguins’ lines, pairs and goaltenders participating in practice: pic.twitter.com/eXSbuhwYvl
— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) July 13, 2020
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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