Red Wings Reads: CDC Policies & Niederbach Scores Again

Never in my life did I think I would be writing about the CDC and how they affect the Detroit Red Wings. But here we are. While Detroit readies for a game on Wednesday with a roster still recovering from Covid, the CDC updated its policies Monday, stating that the isolation time for asymptomatic individuals can reduce from 10 days to five. From the AP story:

"U.S. health officials on Monday cut isolation restrictions for asymptomatic Americans who catch the coronavirus from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that people with the coronavirus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop."

This obviously affects all walks of life, not just the NHL world. But this news harkens back to what general manager Steve Yzerman said last week regarding the testing of players, Reviews were mixed on Yzerman’s words, which questioned the policy of testing asymptomatic players:

"“Players are testing positive with very little symptoms, if any symptoms at all,” said Yzerman. “I don’t see it as a threat to their health at this point, so I think you might take it a step further and question why are we even testing for guys that have no symptoms?”"

Regardless of where anyone stands on the issue (and this is a divisive one), Yzerman’s point has  been addressed by the CDC in a way. While testing would still be necessary, the time a player is off the ice would be reduced essentially by a week should they be asymptomatic. The NHL will be giving things a look as to whether changes should be made:

"NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said, “Obviously it will spur a review of the protocol” currently in place, which includes 10 days away for those who contract the virus and experience symptoms."

It’s another thing to keep an eye on as teams return to full strength and games presumably begin this week.

Niederbach scores again in Sweden’s Victory

Theodor Niederbach scored his second goal in as many games for Sweden and it was a dandy on the power play:

A little bit of a Brett Hull tee-up there, which certainly evokes some happy memories for any Red Wings fans watching. Here was an astute point as well:

As the Yzerplan has taken shape, one of the underlying questions about Yzerman drafting was if he could find those gems in the form of Point and Nikita Kucherov that he snagged while in Tampa. It’s still very early in the process but the early returns from the likes of Niederbach, Albert Johansson, or even Jan Bednar have given hope that Yzerman can indeed hit beyond the first round.

Will they all be of the Point and Kucherov level? Again, that will still take time to bear out, but seeing Red Wings prospects taken in lower rounds making impacts–well, here’s how we feel about that: