Six Dallas Stars players and two staff members tested positive for Covid-19, the North American Ice Hockey League (NHL) said on Friday, forcing the team’s first games to be postponed for the 2021 season. The Stars were initially scheduled to play their first game of the season against the Florida Panthers on January 14. But the NHL announced Friday that Dallas is unlikely to play until Jan. 19, and additional games against the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning are also expected to be postponed. “As a result of the positive tests, and as an appropriate precaution, the team’s training facilities have been closed, with immediate effect, and will remain so for several days, while further daily testing and research for contacts are going to be made, ”said the NHL. The new NHL season should have started in October 2020 and ended in April before the play-offs. However, disruption caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic has forced League leaders to cut the season to 56 games, from January to May.
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