2022 WJC: Two U.S. players test positive, Team USA forfeits game vs. Swiss
The IIHF announced that Tuesday afternoon’s scheduled game between the United States and Switzerland at the 2022 World Junior Championship would not take place due to two U.S. players testing positive for COVID-19. As a result, the U.S. forfeits the game against Switzerland, per IIHF rules for this event.
According to the IIHF’s announcement, Team USA’s entire team and staff must now mandatorily quarantine. Per the IIHF, “the [team’s] quarantine status will be evaluated later to determine whether it will be able to compete in its next preliminary round game, scheduled for 29 December against Sweden.”
There is definitely concern that the U.S. will not be able to play in that game, either, which would also be ruled a forfeit. Their next scheduled game would be Dec. 31 against Russia.
With two players testing positive, Canada’s federal quarantine rules state that they’d have to isolate for 10 days. Though the CDC’s recommendations for isolation have changed in the United States to allow for a shorter isolation if vaccinated and asymptomatic, that does not impact Canada’s health regulations. Whichever players tested positive would likely be lost for the remainder of the tournament, based on previous protocol.
BREAKING:@usahockey has forfeited their game against @SwissIceHockey due to a a mandated team quarantine following a positive test result of two of its players.
More at https://t.co/dDceNHvTed#WorldJuniors pic.twitter.com/0WkEUif0m3
Prior to the tournament, one Swiss player tested positive and their pre-tournament game against Czechia was canceled. The entire team was placed in isolation from Dec. 23-25. The player in question, confirmed by the team as would-be captain Simon Knak, was not placed on the final roster due to having to go through a 10-day period of isolation.
Austria also had a player test positive before the tournament started and the entire team isolated for two days before being cleared. Based on that precedent, that would suggest the U.S. may not be released from isolation in time to play against Sweden. Things may be different for the tournament itself, however.
According to a source with Team USA, everyone in the team’s traveling party “feels great” as in they’re asymptomatic. All players on Team USA are vaccinated as well, according to GM John Vanbiesbrouck in an earlier news conference, as was required for entry into Canada.
Team USA won its first game of the tournament on Dec. 26, 3-2, over Slovakia and currently sit in second place in Group B. Slovakia will be the only team in the group with no points after Switzerland is awarded a 1-0 win as a result of USA’s forfeit.
There is still a chance for the U.S. to qualify for the playoff round, though their place in the standings will be impacted by the forfeit. So long as Slovakia does not collect more than three points in the standings, the U.S. will have at least the tiebreaker in head-to-head. Things get a little trickier if there’s a three-way tie at the bottom of the standings.
Should the U.S. also forfeit its game against Sweden, they’ll be in position to finish in the lower half of Group B and likely face one of Canada or Finland in a tough quarterfinal matchup. They’ll have to get past this quarantine and get cleared first before they can even start thinking that far ahead, though.
DailyFaceoff.com will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available.