6 NHL teams have still not committed to paying their employees.

The outbreak of the coronavirus, an outbreak that has now officially been described as a pandemic, has created a host of problems around the world and among those issue is the sudden and unexpected cancelation of the 2019 - 2020 National Hockey League regular season. Spots leagues around the world in fact have had to shut down in the middle of their respective seasons and, although that has of course deprived us all of the entertainment value we get out of these properties, more importantly it has deprived thousands and thousands among us of an ability to continue earning a living wage. 

Thankfully most of the owners in the National Hockey League have since stepped up and have made commitments to pay their employees in spite of the fact that many games will have to be postponed or cancelled, in some cases with the owners committing to pay their staff through the month of March and in other cases with owners committing to pay their employees for the remaining games on the scheduled regardless of how long the league is forced to suspend play as a result of the coronavirus. I say most because there are unfortunately some teams out there that have still not made a commitment to their staff, in spite of the fact that those staff members are arguably those who stand to lose the most as a result of this stoppage in play. 

Thankfully there are only 6 teams who now remain on what is being called "The Naughty List" but some of the names on here may come as a surprise, and a disappointment, to fans of the respective teams who have yet to commit to their employees. Here are the 6 teams who have not made a commitment of any kind as of the time of this writing:

Boston Bruins - Owner Jeremy Jacobs

Columbus Blue Jackets - Owner John P. McConnell

Minnesota Wild - Owner Craig Leipold

Ottawa Senators - Owner Eugene Melnyk

St. Louis Blues - Owner Tom Stillman

Las Vegas Golden Knight - Owner Bill Foley

Now of course there is still time for some, or all, of these owners to reverse course and make a commitment of this nature to their employees. In the case of owners like Eugene Melnyk of the Ottawa Senators or Jeremy Jacobs of the Boston Bruins I think it is fair for fans to temper their expectations given the reputation those owners have built for themselves over the years, but hopefully even they will step and stand by their employees in this difficult time.