Blue Jackets goaltending coach Legace talks about surviving COVID-19 scare
It’s been a trying offseason for Manny Legace. The Blue Jackets’ goaltending coach and his family were first struck by tragedy July 4 during a wedding celebration for his daughter, Sabrina, at his home in Novi, Michigan. Blue Jackets goalie Matiss Kivlenieks, 24, died as the result of a fireworks incident during the festivities, taking the life of a young man Legace likened to his own son.
Two months later, Legace was fighting for his own life in a Michigan hospital bed with a severe case of COVID-19.
“I just want to thank the people who saved my life,” Legace said Thursday. “I want to thank my wife, Giana … who has a very stubborn husband and did not want to go to the hospital because I just had a cough and didn’t think anything of it.”
Legace and his wife became ill around the same time, both experiencing symptoms Aug. 19 that worsened over the span of a week. Giana Legace’s cough and symptoms subsided, but his did not. Legace’s condition grew worse, and Giana was concerned enough to purchase a pulse oximeter to monitor his oxygenation.
When it reached 83% on Sept. 6, a call was made to the Blue Jackets’ medical staff, which led to a call from Dr. Anthony Colucci, the Detroit Red Wings’ medical director and a family friend of the Legaces.
Colucci told Giana to take her husband to the nearest emergency room. Legace insisted on making a drive of roughly 55 minutes to see Colucci instead. It was the start of a seven-day hospital stay. “I’m stubborn ... to a fault,” Legace said. “Obviously, it almost cost me my life. I was still kind of like, ‘I’m glad I’m going to see Dr. Colucci, so he can straighten it out for my wife that it’s only going to be this cough, and this is what’s going to happen.’ And once I saw doc, I was like, ‘Oh, this is serious. This is really serious.’ ” How serious?
Colucci was already alarmed by the former NHL goaltender’s blood oxygen level when he spoke with Giana on the phone, but it had dropped even lower by the time they reached the emergency room. A normal range for blood oxygen is between 95% and 100% and Colucci said Legace’s had dipped to 75%.
He was given supplemental oxygen treatments immediately, boosting his oxygenation percentage back above 90%, and then underwent an imagery scan that showed evidence of “COVID pneumonia” and bilateral blood clots often found in COVID-19 cases. Legace was also given the antiviral medicine Remdesivir to halt the spread of the virus and was admitted to the intensive care unit.
He was not placed on a ventilator, but spent a week in the ICU before being released Sept. 12.
“I think he’s realizing, because he’s heard enough from me now how bad he was and how lucky he is that he’s with us today, that the scale could’ve tipped at any moment,” Colucci said.
Per guidelines from of Centers for Disease Control, Legace now must wait eight weeks before getting vaccinated, which he and his wife had put off based on advice from doctors related to medical conditions.
The NHL and the Blue Jackets are taking hardline stances on COVID-19 protocols this season, requiring all coaches and staff to be vaccinated in order to work. The NHL Players’ Association represents the players, who don’t have a formal vaccine mandate, but reports from across the league indicate the vast majority are vaccinated.
Only a small number aren’t, including Blue Jackets veteran forward Zac Rinaldo, who was not invited to the team’s main camp in Columbus because of it. The Jackets also fired assistant coach Sylvain Lefebvre because of his refusal to comply with the league’s vaccine mandate, ending his tenure with the team a little more than two months after he was hired June 30. bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger