Mirtle: Auston Matthews becomes the reluctant face of NHL players with COVID-19 - The Athletic

The question came early for Sheldon Keefe on Monday afternoon, as it would after any other Maple Leafs practice.

Only the answer was different.

“Can you tell us where Timothy Liljegren was today?”

“Timothy was unfit to play here today,” said the coach.

This is the script of our new reality, brought on by a global pandemic and the extraordinary circumstances for the NHL’s return to play. Across the league on Monday as training camps reopened, players were missing without explanation, as the NHL attempts to keep those who test positive for COVID-19 anonymous – even as their ranks balloon each week.

On Monday, the NHL announced a series of new cases, with a total of 43 players now having returned positive tests. That was up from 35 the week prior.

Was Liljegren among those new cases? We may never know, barring the player himself opening up about his absence upon his return.

In fact, of all...

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiemh0dHBzOi8vdGhlYXRobGV0aWMuY29tLzE5Mjc1MzIvMjAyMC8wNy8xNC9taXJ0bGUtYXVzdG9uLW1hdHRoZXdzLWJlY29tZXMtdGhlLXJlbHVjdGFudC1mYWNlLW9mLW5obC1wbGF5ZXJzLXdpdGgtY292aWQtMTkv0gF-aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVhdGhsZXRpYy5jb20vMTkyNzUzMi8yMDIwLzA3LzE0L21pcnRsZS1hdXN0b24tbWF0dGhld3MtYmVjb21lcy10aGUtcmVsdWN0YW50LWZhY2Utb2YtbmhsLXBsYXllcnMtd2l0aC1jb3ZpZC0xOS8_YW1w?oc=5

2020-07-14 13:09:00Z
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