As a diehard fan of the Vancouver Canucks, I admittedly often forget about the human element of the sport.
It’s really easy to get swept up in the team’s current performance and their standings in the league, but we need to keep in mind that everyone on the team is still humans who have daily struggles like the rest of us.
I was reminded of this yesterday when news broke that more Canucks players had tested positive for COVID-19, as was covered by my co-editor and friend Brayden Ursel. At this point, hockey should be the last thing on our minds, and we should instead be wishing everyone a quick and speedy recovery.
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It might be hard to fathom, but athletes are just as prone to struggling with regular issues as we are, and just because they’re famous and earn an exorbitant amount of money doesn’t mean that they’re not susceptible to the same struggles that we go through.
For instance, Tyler Motte has long been an advocate for mental health, and we all remember when Troy Stecher, Jacob Markstrom, and Zack MacEwen all lost their fathers in the midst of the 2019-20 season. The team all banded together to support each other during those trying times, and now we must do the same as fans by giving the players space and privacy as they recover from this terrifying virus.
Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worst last night when Farhan Lalji reported that many members of the team have fallen seriously ill due to COVID-19.
As Dregs notes, some #Canucks players have become very ill.
— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) April 3, 2021
I’m also being told that in some cases team medical staff may have gone to the homes of players to administer IV treatments. https://t.co/Uh5bqk6raf
At this point, the long-term health of Canucks players and everyone who works at Rogers Arena might hang in the balance, so we shouldn’t even care whether or not we see the team return to the ice this season.
All we can ask for at this point is for everyone involved to have a full recovery that doesn’t impact their future wellbeing, hockey be damned.