Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon to miss season opener with COVID-19

DENVER Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon will miss the season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night after testing positive for a COVID19 infection.

Colorado general manager Joe Sakic said Tuesday that MacKinnon’s positive test appeared Monday and that the center is “asymptomatic and feeling fine.”

MacKinnon did not practice Tuesday. He couldn’t return until Saturday at the earliest when the Avalanche host the St. Louis Blues.

At this point, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar is expected to return to the bench after being listed in the NHL’s COVID19 protocol last week.

Sakic said the team was 100% vaccinated against the coronavirus.”I think everyone is sick of dealing with it. But it’s here and it’s the world we live in,” Sakic said. “You just have to deal with it.”

“Guys are responsible and careful in everything they do,” Sakic said. “But [COVID19] is out there. Everyone in all sports is going to have to deal with it. It’s not going away any time soon. Anyway, it doesn’t look like it. “