Montreal Canadiens: Joel Armia Could Play Game 1 After All
Montreal Canadiens winger Joel Armia has had a roller coaster of a season, and that was before he thought he would miss Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.
He got off to a bit of a slow start offensively, but was part of a dangerous penalty kill that was scoring more goals than it allowed early in the season. Then, he had a terrific four point game against the Vancouver Canucks and things were starting to look pretty good for the Habs right winger.
Unfortunately, before that game could end, Armia was run by Canucks defender Tyler Myers and knocked out of the lineup with a. concussion.
After missing a few weeks, Armia was settling back into a depth two-way role for the Canadiens. Suddenly, he was out of the lineup once again and this time it was because of a positive test for Covid-19. Further tests would prove he had contracted the virus and need to quarantine away from the team for at least 14 days.
Fortunately, no one else tested positive but the Habs did miss several games and needed to reschedule them for late in the season, giving them a hectic final six weeks.
Once again, Armia settled into a depth role and his fourth line with Corey Perry and Eric Staal has been instrumental in the Canadiens making it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.
The Finnish forward must have been feeling a little deja vu when his Covid-19 test yesterday came back as positive. For a player who has been fully vaccinated and already had the virus, this must have been quite a shock.
His team was scheduled to fly to Tampa Bay later that morning to gear up for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, but Armia wouldn’t be joining them. At least not yet.
The team only said that he was in Covid-19 protocol and would not be on the flight with his teammates on Sunday.
Today, it was announced that Armia was on a private jet heading for Tampa.
Luke Richardson says Joel Armia is on his way to Tampa on a private jet and is a game-time decision. That means he tested negative and has been cleared from Covid-protocol.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) June 28, 2021
The team mentioned he was a game-time decision for Game 1, but if he is on a flight to Tampa, he had to have tested negative for Covid-19 and been removed from his quarantine. This suggests a false positive test from yesterday and a negative test following it up.
Next. It's now or never for current Habs group. dark
It also means that Armia is good to go and should be taking his place next to Staal and Perry on a terrific fourth line in time for tonight’s game.