NLL postpones Week 6 game in Rochester “due to COVID activity”

Photo: Micheline V/Rochester Knighthawks

Although earlier this week it appeared that all six still-scheduled games during the National Lacrosse League’s Week 6 would be happening, the league tonight confirmed that the contest between the Rochester Knighthawks and Calgary Roughnecks would be postponed “due to COVID activity”.

While no players have been officially moved to protocol in connection to tonight’s decision, it’s believed that a significant number of players between the two teams have contracted COVID over the league’s recent almost three-week break. Due to the game no longer happening on Saturday evening in Rochester, neither team would be required to place players in protocol to make room on their roster for call ups.

Hours before the league confirmed the postponement, Calgary starting goalie, Christian Del Bianco, tweeted his concerns over Canadian players competing south of the border and potentially experiencing issues returning to the country if they were to test positive. His tweets have since been deleted.

The league’s full statement reads, “Due to COVID activity, this Saturday's Calgary at Rochester game has been postponed and will be rescheduled at a later date. All other games this weekend are proceeding as scheduled.”

Those other games include: Colorado at Vancouver (Fri.), Georgia at Philadelphia (Sat.), Saskatchewan at Albany (Sat.), Toronto at Buffalo (Sat.) and Panther City at San Diego (Sat.).

The Halifax Thunderbirds had previously announced that their Week 6 game against the New York Riptide had been moved to February 4th due to revamped restrictions put in place by the province of Nova Scotia. Those restrictions have since been extended and will likely further hinder Halifax’s home dates.

Click here for a full breakdown of players officially in protocol and those that have met the requirements to be readded to their team’s active roster.