The NHL said on Friday that Ducham had a presumptive positive result in a test conducted in Las Vegas on Thursday, the day after the Canadians won the second game. The results were confirmed in further tests on Friday.

The league said all tests on players, other coaches and hockey team staff on Thursday and Friday were negative.

The Canadians said that assistant coach Luke Richardson will serve as a substitute in the third game.

On Friday morning, Ducharm was sent home and suddenly cancelled his pre-match media coverage after a violation during the test.

Watch | The Canadians beat the Golden Cavaliers 3-2 to tie for the series:

General Manager Marc Bergevin said in a pre-match press conference that Ducharm “did well” at home. Bergevin said the team is in contact with public health and the NHL.

When asked how long Ducharme might be absent, Bergevin said: “This is an ongoing situation, so I can’t tell you how long.”

Montreal confirmed that the 48-year-old had received a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on June 9.

After Montreal scored 3-2 in Vegas on Wednesday, the Canadians and the Golden Cavaliers drew 1-1 in the semifinals of the NHL semifinals with seven games and four wins.

The series is the NHL’s first crossover game this season, and a federal exemption allows teams to bypass Canada’s 14-day quarantine requirements.

The Ducharme news was released a few hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that travel restrictions on the Canada-US border will continue for at least another month to prevent the fourth wave of COVID-19.

Tan is confident in vaccines

Before the positive diagnosis, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Teresa Tan, was asked about Ducham’s situation in the House of Commons Health Committee.

She said that although the country is fortunate to have vaccines available, no vaccine is 100% effective, even with two doses.

“If the vaccine is 80% effective, even after vaccination, you can still infect one-fifth of the population… easily infected,” she said. “But what we do know is that in general, these infections will be milder. Therefore, preventing serious consequences is also critical.”

“The sports team must have an agreement,” she added. “So, currently, such games are played under the auspices of a public health department that has a safety plan so that if someone becomes positive, they will not spread the virus to many other people.”

History repeats itself?

After Claude Julian was fired on February 24, Ducham was promoted from an assistant position to a temporary position.

The Canadians ranked fourth in Ducham’s All-Canada Northern Division, and then defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets in the first two rounds of the playoffs.

In March, the Canadians postponed four games after two players were included in the NHL’s COVID agreement list.

Friday’s positive test marks the second time Montreal has participated in the playoffs without a head coach.

During the playoff bubble in Toronto last summer, Julian was rushed to the hospital and installed a stent in the coronary arteries. Before Montreal was eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers, assistant coach Kirk Muller filled the role of Julian for the remainder of the playoffs.

Before the pandemic’s shortened 2020-21 season, Julian returned to training camp, but, along with Mueller, the Canadians are working hard to find traction and handed his walking paper to him.

This is the second time that Vegas opponents have raised COVID-19-related coaching question marks in the playoffs.

Colorado’s Jared Bednar missed the team’s morning run before Game 6 of the second round because his test results were abnormal. Later that day, he was cleared and coached the Avalanche team, ending their playoff hopes with a 6-3 loss.