With outbreaks taking place on teams all over the league, the WHL announced late Thursday that in addition to six games postponed Wednesday and earlier in the day, five Western Conference contests this weekend will not be taking place due to the league’s COVID-19 protocols.
On Wednesday evening it was announced that home-and-home series between the Regina Pats and Saskatoon Blades as well as the Victoria Royals and Prince George Cougars slated for this Friday and Saturday had been postponed.
Games between the Prince Albert Raiders and Swift Current Broncos were added to the weekend postponement list on Thursday morning, although Swift Current -- like the Moose Jaw Warriors -- is currently in a team pause dating back to Dec. 30.
The shutdown of the Raiders and Broncos contests means no Eastern Conference games will be taking place this weekend.
The Western Conference is also on thin ice, as games involving the Portland Winterhawks, Kamloops Blazers, Vancouver Giants, Everett Silvertips and Tri-City Americans running from Friday through Sunday were also postponed Thursday.
Two of those -- Everett at Spokane and Seattle at Tri-City -- were shut down because of a winter storm warning in the Pacific Northwest.
The end result sees all 10 scheduled WHL contests on Friday night postponed; of the 10 games slated for Saturday, only Portland at Kelowna and Spokane at Seattle will be played, with Portland travelling to Vancouver for the lone Sunday game.
The Warriors were officially shut down on Tuesday due to a COVID-19 outbreak, joining the Broncos, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Edmonton Oil Kings and Red Deer Rebels as teams involved in a full pause as of right now.
Three Moose Jaw games have been postponed so far, including the match-up this past Monday in Winnipeg as well as road games in Lethbridge this coming Friday and Medicine Hat Saturday.
For the latest information on WHL schedule, be sure to keep an eye on www.whl.ca,
