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The Vancouver Canucks have mumps, this is not a drill

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The Hockey Gods must be mad at the Vancouver Canucks because they came back from their bye week with the worst surprise ever. Defenseman Troy Stecher felt sick and was diagnosed with the mumps.

Since then, four other Canucks players — Chris Tanev, Nikita Tryamkin, Mike Chaput, and Markus Granlund — have shown symptoms of the virus and have been quarantined. The Canucks have been working with the Vancouver Health Authority, the NHL, NHLPA, and the BC Centre for Disease Control to minimize the spread of the illness.

On Saturday, CSN California’s Kevin Kurz noticed one of the team’s new precautions.

Before the Canucks morning skate, Equipment Manager Pat O’Neill filled individual Gatorade bottles for each and every player on the roster. He even wrote their numbers prominently on the side.

Mumps in the NHL isn’t as uncommon as you think. There was an outbreak in November and December of 2014 as players on at least five teams, along with several referees, contracted the virus. The most notable person to get sick during that time was Sidney Crosby.

Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Beau Bennett, who is notoriously known for being accident prone, contracted mumps during that go-around as well. Bennett took to Twitter Friday to speak about the latest outbreak.

Mumps is very contagious, but rare. The symptoms include fever, headaches, muscle aches, and swelling of the salivary glands. Children in both the USA and Canada are required to receive a mumps vaccine, but the vaccine becomes less effective through time.

Another Alberta-based hockey team, the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, is also dealing with an outbreak of the virus.

Via Global News:

The mumps were first detected in a player for the Brandon Wheat Kings before the illness spread to the Tigers earlier this month.

“Last Monday, I felt fever and swelling, so I called the doctor and he said it’s probably mumps. It’s best for me to stay home and rest,” John Dahlström, a player with the Medicine Hat Tigers, said.

A spokesperson for the Calgary Hitmen said no players on the team have been infected and there was no consideration of postponing the Feb. 23 game against the Tigers.

The Edmonton Oil Kings said it is aware of the situation and the organization is taking every precaution to minimize the risk to players.

We send our well wishes to all the hockey players afflicted with the virus and hope they feel better soon. We also hope that Stecher Tanev, Tryamkin, Chaput, and Granlund are all having fun in isolation. Poor guys.

2/26 update: Three more Canucks, Ben Hutton, Anton Rodin, and Trainer Brian Hamilton have come down with symptoms of the mumps. Stecher and Tanev have been cleared to play. Stecher participated in practice Sunday while Tanev has yet to rejoin the team.

2/28 update: The Canucks have announced that Ben Hutton and Markus Granlund’s tests came back negative and that they never had the mumps. They are cleared to play tonight along with Troy Stecher. Mike Chaput tested positive and will be out for a few days. Chris Tanev is questionable for tonight and Nikita Tryamkin will not be joining the team. There is no official diagnoses on either Tanev and Tryamkin.


Sven Baertschi and Jacob Markstrom are out with injuries not related to mumps.

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