Bruins players contribute to account to help TD Garden employees

Several Boston Bruins players have contributed to a GoFundMe account that is being circulated online to pay lost wages for TD Garden workers while events are postponed due to coronavirus concerns.

Six Bruins home games remained on the regular season schedule, along with nine Celtics games and several other events, that part-time workers as of now will not be compensated for.

Some NHL owners, such as New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris, announced they would pay their workers for lost time, but Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, worth a reported $3.5 billion, is not one of them. Jacobs is also the chairman of Delaware North, which owns TD Garden.

The GoFundMe page was created Saturday morning by Gunnar, Lola, Meghan and Jon Larson with a goal of $250,000, and had reached around $12,000 by 1 p.m. Donations of $1,000 were contributed by Bruins players Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask, Charlie McAvoy and Joakim Nordstrom. A total of 93 donors had contributed to that point.

The page's description reads: "COVID-19 precautions have led to pauses in NHL, NBA and Garden event activity. Hundreds of loyal TD Garden workers will lose considerable and critical income during the suspension of events. Bruins and Celtics fans should step up and help these families fill the void caused by this terrible health crisis. We should come together as a community to demonstrate our strength, mutual loyalty and commitment."

Several pro athletes have stepped up to help cover costs where owners haven't. 19-year-old New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson pledged on Friday night to cover the salaries of all arena workers through March 30. Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky is donating $100,000 for BB&T Center employees. His teammates have pledged to match that donation.

In the NHL, the Ducks have made a commitment to pay all workers, the Red Wings set up a fund of $1 million to go toward part-time staff, the Panthers have agreed to match player donations, the Flyers committed to pay through March 31, and Sharks and Capitals employees will be paid.

Some teams have outright refused, such as the Winnipeg Jets.

The Winnipeg News quoted Jets owner Mark Chipman saying, "Those people are on part-time agreements. They work when we work.”