COVID-19: The beat goes Omicron and on and on

The GIST: Unfortunately, you’ll probably be seeing this section for the foreseeable future. March 2020, is that you?

Driving the news: Late Monday, the NHL announced a pause in the season, beginning today and lasting through December 26th — a move that comes after over 40 games had already been postponed due to COVID-19. The announcement also came after nine teams had already shut down until at least Christmas. It’s giving Grinch.

• Then yesterday, the league dropped a bombshell, announcing that NHLers will not attend the Beijing Winter Olympics — especially disheartening news given players recently negotiated to be permitted to play at the Games.

• The NHL’s announcement also begs the question: will the Olympics be canceled entirely? Organizers say no…but we’ve heard that one from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) before.

COVID-19 in Canada: The rest of the hockey world is also being impacted, with pre-tournament World Juniors games canceled and crowd capacity reduced to 50%.

• Meanwhile, the Canadian women’s national team’s Rivalry Series tilt with Team USA on Monday was also canceled, and the release of Team Canada’s Olympic roster was delayed as a result (worth the wait, TBH).

Elsewhere: In the NFL, despite changing COVID-19 protocols to stop testing asymptomatic vaccinated players weekly, a single-day record of 47 players tested positive on Monday. Yikes.

• And in the NBA, all eyes are on Saturday’s Christmas Day slate, as the league prepares contingency plans should COVID-19 disrupt the show. Santa, we could really use some holiday magic right about now.