Back in early June, when the NHL was preparing to slowly begin their return to play plan, it was leaked to the press that the Maple Leafs’ star player, Auston Matthews, had COVID-19. Matthews himself did not leak this, and neither did his agent. Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun took it upon himself to leak a medical diagnoses to the hockey world, who immediately glommed onto it and turned Matthews into the poster child for the perils of opening the league during the pandemic. A month later, Matthews confirmed that he had a basically asymptomatic case of it.
The NHL’s “unfit to play” guidance is going to frustrate fans, journalists
