The Montreal Canadiens are hosting the Philadelphia Flyers without fans in the arena Thursday night due to rising COVID-19 cases.
The announcement was made roughly two hours before puck drop in Montreal.
“Faced with the spiraling rise of COVID-19 cases in the region, late this afternoon the Montreal Canadiens organization received a request from Quebec public health officials to host tonight’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers in a closed setting with no fans in attendance at the Bell Centre,” the team said in a statement. “We have accepted this request in order to help ensure the safety and security of our fans and fellow citizens throughout our community.”
The Canadiens said they will provide an update Friday about Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins. Boston added three players and a staff member to COVID-19 protocol Thursday.
The team also said it had “obtained assurances” that it will be allowed to return to a partial-capacity operation starting in January. After the scheduled Montreal-Boston game Saturday, the Canadiens will have a six-game road trip in the U.S. that concludes Jan. 1.
In the neighboring province of Ontario, the government instituted a 50 percent capacity limit on venues holding 1,000 or more people because of the spread of COVID-19. The Toronto Raptors, Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators play in the province.
Montreal was among the last cities in North American sports to begin allowing fans to return to arenas and stadiums during the pandemic. The Canadiens were allowed to admit 3,500 fans into the Bell Centre for Games 3 and 4 of the Stanley Cup Final last July.
All arenas were allowed to operate at full capacity at the start of the current season.
–Field Level Media
