Quarantine concerns loom for NHLers

NHL MVP Connor McDavid calls the idea of potentially having to quarantine for up to five weeks in China following a positive COVID-19 test “unsettling” as the NHL’s participation at the 2022 Winter Games remains up in the air.

The Edmonton captain and one of three players already named to Canada’s provisional Olympic team spoke Dec. 14 as coronarivus cases and postponements continue to rise across the league.

“It’s obviously going to be a very fluid situation,” McDavid said before Edmonton hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs. “There hasn’t been a ton of information come out, and then there’s that three-to-five week (quarantine) thing ... it’s kind of been floating around. Obviously, it’s unsettling if that were to be the case when you go over there.”

The NHL skipped the 2018 Olympics in South Korea, but committed to Beijing as part of the extension to the current collective bargaining agreement signed with NHL Players’ Association. As recently as last week, Commissioner Gary Bettman said the plan was to go, but the NHL has until Jan. 10 to nix the plan without financial penalty if COVID-19 causes enough of a disruption to its season.

“I’m still a guy that’s wanting to go play in the Olympics,” McDavid said, according to The Canadian Press. “But we also want to make sure it’s safe for everybody. For all the athletes, not just for hockey players.”

College basketball

UConn said star Paige Bueckers has undergone successful surgery to repair the left leg fracture she suffered a week ago as well as a meniscus tear in that knee.

Bueckers underwent the surgery the afternoon of Dec. 13 at UConn Health, the school announced.

The reigning national player of the year fractured her left tibia at the knee on Dec. 5 in a win over Notre Dame.

The injury, known as a tibial plateau fracture, was expected to take six to eight weeks to heal on its own. But the school said she also suffered a lateral meniscus tear when she was hurt and that both injuries were repaired during the surgery.

Bueckers’ recovery is expected to take two months from the date of surgery, the school said.

No. 7 UConn (6-2) takes on No. 6 Louisville on Sunday. The Huskies also will be without injured guards Niki Muhl and Azzi Fudd and forward Aubrey Griffin, leaving them with eight healthy players.