Two NHL clubs have halted training camps with less than a week to go before the start of the NHL season.
Six Dallas Stars players and two staff members have tested positive for COVID-19.
The development will push back the opener for the defending Western Conference champions by nearly a week.
Dallas had been set to open the season next Thursday at Florida. The N-H-L now says the expectation is that the Stars will not start its season until January 19, at earliest.
The Columbus Blue Jackets also held a number of players off the ice "out of abundance of caution'' in another reminder that the pandemic will likely play havoc with the season opening next Wednesday.
— With files from The Canadian Press