Unvaxxed to take big hit in NHL
Tyler Bertuzzi is the only unvaccinated Red Wings player going into training camp and faces the potential of missing all of his team’s games in Canada this season as a result, general manager Steve Yzerman said Wednesday.
Bertuzzi is in Detroit for the start of on-ice workouts today, but the forward may end up forfeiting more than $450,000 in salary for the Red Wings’ nine games north of the border. NHL protocols allow teams to suspend unvaccinated players without pay when they are unavailable to participate.
Deputy commissioner Bill Daly estimated the league would have only around 10-15 unvaccinated players by the time the regular season starts Oct. 12.
The Columbus Blue Jackets did not invite unvaccinated forward Zac Rinaldo to camp and earlier dumped an assistant coach who declined to get vaccinnated. Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello said he was in the process of figuring out what to do with his team’s lone unvaccinated player, with assignment to Europe among the options.
RED BULLS, NYCFC TIE
Patryk Klimala scored on a penalty kick in the 102nd minute to give the Red Bulls a 1-1 draw against NYCFC on Wednesday night in Harrison.
Klimala’s goal was the latest ever in a MLS regular-season match. The penalty kick was awarded following a lengthy video review that ruled Maxime Chanot handled a shot by Klimala in the box. Chanot was sent off for his second yellow card, and Klimala sent goalkeeper Sean Johnson diving the wrong way to tie it for the Red Bulls (7-11-6).
It was the third draw in the last 13 games of the Hudson River Derby — with NYCFC (11-8-6) winning six.
Valentín Castellanos scored for NYCFC in the 31st minute by slotting home an open shot from the corner of the six-yard box. Keaton Parks was sent off in the 73rd with a straight red card.
The teams will play each other again on Saturday.
T’WOLVES FIRE EXEC
The Timberwolves fired president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas on Wednesday, less than a week before training camp in yet another leadership change for a franchise often in flux.