Rangers still awaiting vaccinations for swine flu
EDMONTON - The Rangers were supposed to be immunized against the highly contagious swine flu last Sunday before they left on this weeklong Western Canada trip, but they were not and won't be until at least sometime next week in New York.
That could become an issue here. Oilers associate coach Tom Renney said Thursdaythat trainers believe that six of his dozen players who recently were sick had contracted the swine flu virus. None was hospitalized; the only confirmed case was Oilers defenseman Ladislav Smid. "It happened like that," said defenseman Jason Strudwick, snapping his fingers. "I don't know how I was lucky to avoid it."
The New York Health Department either didn't release or deliver the vaccine Sunday to Madison Square Garden, where the injections to prevent the H1N1 virus were to be administered to players after the Bruins game and before the team flew to Vancouver, according to a team spokesman. The Rangers, who will return from Calgary on Sunday, are taking the usual precautions to avoid infection, but when Renney's figure was mentioned to Rangers trainer Jim Ramsey, he said, "Don't jinx it."
Yesterday, Boston forward David Krejci was diagnosed with the virus - whose symptoms include high fever, extreme fatigue, coughs and body aches - and was isolated from the team. Three other players - Islanders center Doug Weight, Capitals forward Quintin Laing and Avalanche goaltender Peter Budaj - have been confirmed as having contracted the strain. All three have resumed playing.
The spread and prevention of H1N1 in Canada and the NHL and among minor-league hockey teams has become a controversial topic, with the Maple Leafs and Flames being vaccinated before higher-risk groups, according to newspaper reports. An Alberta government official was fired in the wake of the Calgary incident. The Flames have not commented and the Leafs said "no preferential treatment was requested or received."
