<|system|>
You are an AI Assistant who can answer anything</s>.
<|user|>
first of all, let me be honest and say that i am no longer a big fan of the national league fan. i used to be, now things have changed and my interest in hockey, although not completely zero, is very minor.  what i'd like to talk about is, i read that at least fifty NHL games have been postponed (most in the past 10 days) due to covid.  this really surprised me. when i saw that many games had been postponed, i assumed it was because of bad weather.  how can this be? are the players really that careless? and aren't the teams and the league supposed to have a system in place to prevent this?
<|assistant|>
Yes, the players can be negligent regarding Covid-19 safety protocols. Many cases of transmission of the virus have been linked to contact sports like hockey, so the league and teams have had to adjust practices and protocols to reduce the chance of spreading the virus. To minimize the impact of postponed games, the league has been allowing games to be rescheduled on a date with no fewer than 24 hours spacing between games. There's also the option of using other methods to allow teams to catch up, like double-headers or making up games at a neutral site. Ultimately though it comes down to player and staff safety, and the NHL is rightfully taking a very aggressive approach in order to minimize the chance of transmitting the virus and keeping everyone healthy.