Islanders want players to get booster shots
Islanders head coach Barry Trotz looks on in the third period of an NHL game on Dec. 11 at UBS Arena. Credit: Corey Sipkin
The Islanders want all of their players to get COVID-19 booster shots.
Mathew Barzal remained in COVID-19 protocol as the Islanders faced the Bruins on Thursday night at UBS Arena, the latest of nine players on their NHL roster who have tested positive since Nov. 16 but the only one currently unavailable.
Coach Barry Trotz said before the game that, while there’s disappointment that COVID-19 rates again are rising and more restrictions must be put in place, the organization has done everything possible to combat the virus.
But the Islanders later had to issue a statement correcting Trotz, who had said the whole team had received a booster shot.
"That statement is not true," the Islanders said. "The organization has offered the booster shot to the entire team and will continue to educate and recommend that everyone consider receiving [it]."
The NHL and the NHL Players Association implemented stricter COVID-19 protocols this week — similar to last season — through at least Jan. 7. There’s now daily testing, masking and social distancing within the team facilities and tighter restrictions for players on the road in terms of how and where to eat.
"The NHL, they’re making the decision," Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. "As a player, we do what we’re told and that’s what it’s going to be. You want everyone to be healthy and safe with their family, but it’s not on our part to decide that."
"I think the league is doing its best it can to make sure guys are able to play with the testing that’s happening," Zach Parise said. "At the end of the day, we want to be healthy and play the game. So I know they’re taking the precautions they need to take from that standpoint. Let’s hope that we can all — not only in hockey, but in life — just move forward and not regress to where it was."
Before Barzal, the top-line center who is quarantining in Detroit after testing positive on Tuesday, the Islanders had Anders Lee, Ross Johnston, Kieffer Bellows, Josh Bailey, Casey Cizikas, Adam Pelech, Andy Greene and Zdeno Chara test positive.
The Islanders had games against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28 and at Philadelphia on Nov. 30 postponed in the midst of their outbreak.
The Bruins on Thursday were missing two-thirds of their top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand in the COVID-19 protocols along with goalie Jeremy Swayman, Craig Smith, Anton Blidh and Trent Frederic.
"I can probably speak for every human on the planet, it is a little disappointing we have to go back," Trotz said of the NHL’s enhanced COVID-19 protocols. "But at the same time, it is required. And we’ve been trying to follow those protocols for the most part. The ownership here has gone above and beyond in terms of some of the stuff that we have within our facilities.
"We’ve done more testing than other teams and that’s an expense to the ownership and I give them a lot of props for trying to keep all the athletes safe. And we still got it. It is our new reality right now and we’ll adjust, like everybody has to. It’s required by our team and it’s required by the NHL. The athletes, of course they’re probably disappointed. But they understand and they will follow the mandate."
Trotz also looks at COVID-19 with more of a historical view.
"Generations before us have dealt with a lot worse than we have," he said. "Everything from world wars to pandemics in the past that didn’t have the technology that we have now. We’re a little soft and we get frustrated a little easier, but it’s the reality."
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
