Ladies and gentlemen, the Washington Capitals have done the possible. All their privileged athletes are now 100 percent vaccinated.
The Caps announced the news on Saturday during their third on-ice day at Training Camp. They used the opportunity to thank their team doctors and the nurses at MedStar Health, the sponsor of their practice facility.
Thanks to our team doctors and nurses at @MedStarHealth, the Washington Capitals players and coaches are 100% fully vaccinated. #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/b90cQDam4Q
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 25, 2021
There are only about a dozen players left unvaccinated in the NHL due to the league’s strict COVID-19 protocols. Some of them are set to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars due to their personal decisions.
Last season, the Capitals saw Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Jakub Vrana, Dmitry Orlov, and Ilya Samsonov all miss games due to being on the COVID-19 Unavailability List. Kuznetsov contracted the virus twice, missing 15 games during the regular season and two during the postseason. Samsonov’s season, which was supposed to be the year he took control of Washington’s starting spot, was derailed due to his two different stints in protocol.
Hopefully, now, issues like these will be in the rearview mirror in 2021-22.
Headline photo: Elizabeth Kong/RMNB
