<|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|>
The players are not being caredless. They are likely following the local and state health guidelines as well as any mandates from the NHL regarding testing and wearing masks. Additionally, NHL teams often do practice sessions indoors to minimize contact while still preparing for games. Unfortunately, the recent spike in confirmed COVID cases has created overwhelming demand for testing capacity in some parts of the U.S, forcing local governments to impose physical distancing rules. This has created a challenging environment for teams to ensure appropriate health protocols are in place for practices, let alone games. 

Furthermore, because the NHL requires two home games between every road game, postponements create extreme hardship for the teams who may have already paid for plane tickets for players and coaches. In some cases, the teams and the league might not be able to reschedule the postponed games and teams face penalties and other financial difficulties due to the postponements.

In light of all this, it is clear that while preventing contact, the teams and the league is making efforts in finding innovative ways and strategies to allow practices and play to continue safely.