Two more Wild games postponed

The NHL announced on Friday afternoon that they have postponed an additional eight games in the coming weeks, and two of them involve the Minnesota Wild.

The Wild were set to visit the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 3 and the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 12, but both road games have been postponed to a future date in the season, when the Canadian teams can have a full arena again.

Due to local restrictions, all nine Canadian NHL teams are limited to just 50 percent capacity for the time being, which means less revenue for both the team and the players. So, collectively, the teams have decided to postpone most home games in preference for a future date, when they can have the full crowd back in action and maximize their game-by-game revenue instead of opting for another stretch of the season without full capacity and with lost profits.

Minnesota has now had seven total games postponed in the season, despite Jonas Brodin being the only Wild player that has tested positive all season long, and he was asymptomatic as well. The team has clearly done a good enough job keeping the virus out of the locker room, but whether it’s crowd restrictions or their opponents having an outbreak, the Wild will have to suffer along with them, with massive stretches of no games. The Wild have not played since Dec. 20 due to individual postponements and the NHL’s extended holiday break, and now they are gearing up for the Winter Classic on Saturday night, to try and break through some of that rust at the center of Target Field.