J.T. Miller, Jordie Benn out of Canucks’ lineup due to COVID-19 protocols

VANCOUVER — Two Vancouver Canucks players are self isolating under the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols.

The NHL released a list of players unavailable due to COVID-19 protocol Wednesday, and it included defenceman Jordie Benn and forward J.T. Miller.

Earlier, coach Travis Green said Benn and Miller were “unavailable” for Wednesday’s season opener against the Oilers in Edmonton.

He declined to comment on the reason for the absences, but said the team “100 per cent” takes COVID-19 seriously. 

Multiple media reports say Benn has returned both positive and negative tests for the virus over multiple days. 

Miller was reportedly living with Benn and is considered a close contact, so he too is required to self isolate under the league’s protocols. 

The announcement by the NHL comes after the Canucks cancelled training camp activities on Sunday for what coach Travis Green later described as a “false positive” test result.

Benn was not on the ice when Vancouver resumed practice on Monday. Miller did train with his teammates on Monday but was absent on Tuesday. 

Under the NHL’s positive test protocol, players and staff are tested daily and any time an individual’s initial test comes back positive, the lab does a second test on the initial sample. If the second test is negative, a second sample is collected and if that second sample returns a positive result, it is considered to be a “confirmed positive.”

The league requires individuals who test positive to self isolate for 10 days, and for close contacts to self isolate for 14 days. 

Canucks captain Bo Horvat said Wednesday that the situation has been “a big wake-up call” for the team. 

“Obviously, we weren’t sure what to expect or if things like this were going to happen. But now that it’s happened, you just have to be extra careful and follow the protocols and be as safe as possible,” he said. 

“And for us, we’ve just got to adapt and get ready to play tonight and try to win ourselves a hockey game here.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 13, 2021. 

The Canadian Press