Canadiens add Louis Belpedio, Gianni Fairbrother to COVID protocol

Welcome to Montreal, you’re going into the COVID protocol. The Montreal Canadiens have announced that Louis Belpedio and Gianni Fairbrother have both entered the protocol, just two days after they were recalled from the AHL.

Belpedio and Fairbrother join Paul Byron, Laurent Dauphin, Mike Hoffman, Artturi Lehkonen, Tyler Toffoli, Ben Chiarot, Joel Edmundson, Jeff Petry, Chris Wideman, Jake Allen, and Cayden Primeau in the protocol.

The Canadiens are still currently scheduled to take on the Carolina Hurricanes Thursday night, despite Montreal’s drastically impaired roster. The team is missing 13 skaters due to COVID (Lehkonen is skating but not yet activated) and another half dozen to injury.

Players like Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Lukas Vejdemo, and Corey Schueneman all made their season debuts on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, a game that was actually one of the more competitive matches from the Canadiens all season.

It continues to be a nightmarish season for Montreal, who are now 7-21-4 on the year.