Hockey Player New Jersey Devils Star P.K. Subban, 31, Announces he has Coronavirus, Saying ‘this COVID Thing Hit me Pretty Hard’

FILE – In this Jan. 1, 2016, file photo, Montreal Canadiens’ P.K. Subban (76) watches the action during the second period of the NHL Winter Classic hockey game against the Boston Bruins at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The Nashville Predators pulled off a blockbuster before the start of free agency Wednesday, June 29, 2016, by acquiring P.K. Subban from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Shea Weber, a swap of All-Star defensemen. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

New Jersey Devils defenseman P.K. Subban has been diagnosed with coronavirus, he announced on social media Friday.

‘Alright Subbanator here, in one for a couple days,’ he said in the 30-second clip. ‘This COVID raked my kitchen. Just wanted to say ‘thank you’ to everybody for gifts, well wishes, get well soon. I appreciate it. Love you guys so much.

‘This COVID thing hit me pretty hard but just battling through it, working through it. Just remember to take care of yourselves, stay healthy, I love you guys. I definitely will be back in the mix soon,’ he continued.

Subban also wrote a caption: ‘Covid all up in my grill right now… but Thank you for gifts, messages and well wishes!!!’

The 31-year-old will miss Saturday’s game against Pittsburgh after being placed on the COVID list on Friday. It’s not known if he infected any teammates.

A fixture in sports pages and gossip columns in recent years, Subban has been less visible in 2021 due to the Devils’ struggles and his recent breakup with skiing legend Lindsey Vonn.

Vonn and Subban called off their three-year engagement back in December, saying the ‘will always remain friends.’

‘Over the past 3 years PK and I have had some incredible times together. He is a kind, good man, and someone I respect a great deal,’ Vonn wrote on social media.

‘However, after much consideration we have decided to move forward separately,’ she continued. ‘We will always remain friends and love each other immensely. We ask that you please respect our privacy during this time.’

The Devils are currently in seventh place in the NHL’s Eastern Division.

A former All-Star with the Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators, Suban was named the NHL’s Norris Trophy winner in 2013 as the league’s top defenseman.

He has appeared in 44 games for the Devils this season.

The NHL has taken some recent criticism over its strict COVID-19 guidelines.

On Wednesday the league confirmed it has not guaranteed loosened virus protocols for players who are vaccinated after Vegas goaltender Robin Lehner ripped the NHL for what he said were unkept promises.

‘Nobody from the league has communicated to any player or club that any of our COVID protocols would be ”relaxed” for any player once he is vaccinated,’ a league spokesman said.

The NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball have set vaccination thresholds to relax some protocols, such as mask-wearing and prohibition of outdoor dining, when a certain percentage of team personnel are fully inoculated against COVID-19.

Those leagues have all teams currently playing in the US, where everyone 16 and older can get a vaccine. The NHL has seven teams in Canada, where eligibility — the nation only recently moved to 40 and older in some jurisdictions — and availability is not nearly as robust.

The NHL has only one player, Toronto’s Joe Thornton, over age 40 and playing in Canada, where 25 percent of people have received one dose and 2.5 percent are fully vaccinated, according to the Global Change Data Lab. In the US, roughly 40 percent have had one dose and 25 percent are fully vaccinated.

Lehner said the league showed players the NBA’s protocol plan and told them ‘(when) X amount of players leaders in this team or leaders around the league takes this vaccine, a new set of rules are going to come out.’

He said he had calls with the league and NHL Players’ Association on Tuesday and found out nothing was changing.

‘They told me yesterday they’re surveying all the teams to see who has taken the vaccine and who has not taken the vaccines and they’re not going to change the rules for us as players until all the teams have a fair, have the vaccines at the same time, so it’s not a competitive edge,’ Lehner said during 10 minutes of unprompted comments on the subject.

‘They’re talking about competitive edge instead of human lives. Competitive edge, human lives. We’re humans, too.’

The league has not publicly announced any changes to its pandemic protocols, which limit where players, coaches and staff can go. Lehner’s comments concerned the mental health of himself and fellow players, a topic he has talked about often in recent years.

Lehner called the NHL’s situation ‘totally unacceptable.’

‘Look at the NBA, NFL and the other leagues,’ he said. ‘They’ve already implemented these things. And now we are, we are vaccinated and we’re still going to be trapped in a prison.’

Lehner apologized on Twitter for his use of the word ‘prison’ but stood by his mental health concerns given the restrictive protocols.

SOURCE: Daily Mail, Alex Raskin