COVID hits the Wolf Pack, McKegg & other news

The New York Rangers extended break due to the Islanders’ bout with COVID will be ending Wednesday when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers.  It’s the first time they are playing the Flyers this season and they are eager to get back on the ice after playing only one game in six days.

Coach Gerard Gallant saw the benefits of the time off. “It rests your team, gets your body back to normal…we had a busy, busy schedule….It was good, it was a good break.  We had some good practice days, worked hard. ”  He said that they worked on the power play, neutral zone forecheck and work in the D-zone.

The NHL is not the only league hit by COVID-19.  The Rangers top farm team has been hit by the virus with their game on Wednesday postponed.  The official word is that the COVID protocol is affecting the Wolf Pack, not the Springfield Thunderbirds, the team they were supposed to play.

The official word from the American Hockey League is  that “due to league COVID-19 protocols affecting the Hartford Wolf Pack, their game scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 1, vs. the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL Game #264) has been postponed.  The Wolf Pack organization will be following enhanced protocols at the direction of team medical staff and the AHL.”

There is no word about when the game will be made up and it’s unclear if the  Wolf Pack will be able to play their games this weekend. They were supposed to play in Providence on Friday and at home on Saturday against Utica.  The next game after that is a home contest against Belleville on Wednesday, December 8.

Hartford is not the only team affected by COVID.  The Hershey Bears and the Bakersfield Condors  are also in the protocol and have had games postponed in the last week.

Greg McKegg on COVID protocol

It was announced on Monday that Greg McKegg is on the COVID protocol and is unavailable to play.  He was called up to the Rangers for the fourth time on November 16 after the injury to Sammy Blais, but he has not played since then.  He is scoreless in eight games this season as a fill in on the fourth line.

With McKegg unavailable and the Wolf Pack in the protocol, the Rangers have no options if they lose a forward to injury, an issue with three games in the next four days.

Former Ranger Tony DeAngelo was also placed on the COVID protocol as the Carolina Hurricanes now have three starting defensemen unavailable.  He joins Brett Pesce and Ethan Bear on the list.

Brett Berard on the Team USA WJC roster

USA Hockey announced their preliminary roster for Team USA at the IIHF World Junior Championships and one future Ranger is on the list.  Left winger Brett Berard is currently in his second year at Providence College and is the Friars’ leading scorer with 10 goals and 21 points in 17 games.  He also leads all Hockey East players in scoring, though he is tied for seventh in scoring in conference play with two goals and eight points  in nine games.

Berard was a fifth round draft pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft (134th overall) and played for Team USA at the last WJC.  He was impressive as Team USA won the gold medal and he has the added advantage of playing for returning TEAM USA coach Nate Leaman who is his coach at Providence.

The roster will be finalized starting on December 12 in training camp in Plymouth, Michigan. The 2022 WJC Tournament will run from December 26 to January 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.

Lemieux suspended five games for biting

Former Ranger Brendan Lemieux got his punishment for biting Brady Tkachuk.  He has been suspended five games.

If you want to see the entire explanation, click here.  It’s worth watching because the whole situation is so absurd.  In the video, the NHL explains that Lemieux has been fined for biting Tkachuk’s right hand, not the left hand that was bloodied.  There was no video evidence to support that accusation.   They do show that Lemieux bit down on Tkachuk’s right hand at the start of the scrum.  Even funnier is Lemieux’s explanation that Tkachuk was injuried punching the former Ranger and hitting his teeth.   You can’t make this stuff up.