Ekblad, Lomberg weather Florida Panthers holiday Covid outbreak

A Covid-19 outbreak could not have happened at a worse time for the Florida Panthers.

On Dec. 17, the team’s games were postponed due to the Covid-19 outbreak, but for seven players, it meant that their holiday season was in jeopardy.

“’Here we go again’ was my initial thought,” Aaron Ekblad said when asked his reaction to being placed into the NHL Covid protocol.

“Second time I’ve had to deal with it and second time over Christmas I had to deal with it, so not enjoyable for me or my family. But it was a necessary evil and I was able to get through it fairly quickly.”

Ryan Lomberg, who was the first of the seven players placed on the Covid protocol list, said he was asymptomatic.

He was also activated off of the list on Dec. 23, so he was able to celebrate the holidays.