NYI coach Barry Trotz says his team and another were 'guinea pigs' used to 'get some data'
While several NHL teams have been shut down due to COVID outbreaks, two teams impacted early in this current wave were forced to play through. The coach of one of those teams isn't overly happy about it.
Barry Trotz with the New York Islanders had several players in COVID protocol at one point this season, as well as the Ottawa Senators. Both were told to keep going by the NHL. Ottawa had to sign AHL defenceman Zac Leslie to a deal just to be able to ice a full roster. Trotz feels both teams were used by the league to collect data, while adding he believes teams should play if they have enough players.
"I think if you can play on, you play on. Nobody felt sorry for us...Us and Ottawa were the guinea pigs at the start to get some data on this," he said Sunday.
I don't know if he's right or wrong about the guinea pig part of it, but it's hard to blame him for being frustrated. Both the Isles and Sens were down to bare-bones rosters at one point, at it showed in the standings. The Islanders' recent 11-game losing streak ended with a win over Ottawa on December 7th.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 4, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brett Howden | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mark Jankowski | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||