It turned out there was a very good reason Neal Pionk was unable to meet his Winnipeg Jets teammates on the ice until Tuesday’s practice at the Canada Life Center.
And it’s a very good bet that Pionk would have preferred the opportunity to skate on Sunday and Monday, rather than having to wait an extra couple of days for a mandatory negative COVID-19 test result within 72 hours. to re-enter. Canada after vacationing in his home state of Minnesota.
“I did a test on December 23rd and on Christmas Day I still hadn’t received those results. And I knew I had to be back in Winnipeg on the 26th, ”Pionk said when asked for a summary of the events leading up to his delayed return. “So I packed up the truck and left on Christmas Day and drove as close to the border as I could, hopefully hoping for some results.”
Pionk says Option B was trying to find a test he could take in Grand Forks, North Dakota, with the understanding that it would be nearly impossible to schedule a test on Christmas Day.
“So that was not an option. So we had to stay in a hotel, still waiting for the results, ”said the 26-year-old from Hermantown, Minnesota, who is about a four-and-a-half hour drive from Grand Forks. “I still couldn’t find a COVID test, either that wasn’t an option or all appointments were already booked.”
Pionk says he was even turned away from the ER at the Grand Forks hospital before finally hitting pay ground on Monday.
“We found a place that converted a PCR test, they returned the results to us in about 30 minutes. And then once we got those results, we were able to cross the border, as well as drive through a snowstorm to get to Winnipeg. “
Pionk says the results finally came in late Monday night from the original test conducted on Dec. 23. And of course, he heard criticism from his teammates when he arrived in the locker room on Tuesday morning.
“’How was the vacation? I hope you had fun. I hope you went somewhere warm, ‘”were a sample of the friendly verbal shots that Pionk remembers hearing. “I received the completed works today, which is fair.”
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COVID-19 – Winnipeg Jets’ next home games will be in front of empty stands
The Jets will not return to action until Friday night in Calgary after previous games in Nashville and Dallas last week and home games against Minnesota and Chicago this week were postponed by the NHL as a result of concerns about the COVID-19. Pionk believes the team’s final 52 games will have the same feel as last year’s compact schedule during the pandemic-shortened season.
“And on top of that, make an effort for the playoffs,” added the Jets blueliner.
Winnipeg is currently in ninth place in the NHL Western Conference, three points behind Edmonton and Colorado for the two wild-card spots.
Friday night’s game in Calgary kicks off a four-game road trip that will also include stops in Las Vegas (January 2, 2022), Arizona (January 4) and Colorado (January 6). The Jets will not play at home again until Saturday, January 8, against Seattle. And that will be in an empty Canada Life Center as a result of new restrictions introduced by Manitoba Health that went into effect at 12:01 am Tuesday morning and will continue until at least January 11.
Winnipeg will also host Minnesota on January 10.
Forwards Andrew Copp and Kristian Vesalainen remain on the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol and, according to a Jets spokesperson, will not be considered eligible to return to the lineup until the Jan.2 game in Las Vegas. In the past two days, Winnipeg has reassigned defender Ville Heinola and AHL Manitoba Moose forward Mikey Eyssimont to the newly created taxi squad.
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