NHL, NHLPA agree to pause season from Dec. 22-25

The NHL and NHLPA agreed to pause the 2021-22 season from Dec. 22 to Dec. 25, the league announced Monday night.

Teams must suspend all operations and will not practice or be tested during those days. Facilities will be reopened Dec. 26 at 2 p.m. local time.

Tuesday's games between the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers and the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vegas Golden Knights will go on as scheduled pending test results, according to Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli.

There were already no games scheduled for Dec. 26. A hefty 14-game slate is currently on the docket for Dec. 27.

Upon returning from the holiday break, no individual from the team's traveling party can enter facilities other than for testing purposes until they test negative.

The pause is the NHL's latest attempt at halting the spread of COVID-19. With a handful of teams already shutting down operations until Dec. 27, the league postponed 12 cross-border games that were originally scheduled to run from Dec. 20-23.

Five games were still scheduled to be played on Dec. 23, bringing the total number of games shelved to 49, according to Seravalli. Forty-four of the postponements came in the past seven days. All games on Dec. 22 were already postponed.

A desire to maintain a competitive balance across the league also reportedly factored into the pause, as some teams have been more affected by COVID-19 than others.