The Columbus Blue Jackets held their media day on Tuesday afternoon at Nationwide Arena. This is the day that Training Camp rosters are revealed. When that roster was revealed, there was one notable absence.
Zac Rinaldo was not on the roster.
The Blue Jackets signed Rinaldo to a one-year, two-way contract on Aug 13. However President of Hockey Operations John Davidson announced on Tuesday that Rinaldo was unvaccinated and therefore was not welcome at camp.
This is after Rinaldo attended an “anti-vaccine passport” rally in Hamilton, Ontario. According to the Hamilton Spectator, Rinaldo spoke to the crowd and was quoted as saying “I’m not anti-vax. I’m not anti-mask. I’m pro choice.” (From Bernier’s Gage Park Rally Sees 300 Mostly Maskless People Come Out in Support of PPC’s, The Hamilton Spectator, Matthew Van Dongen, 9/16/21.)
This is the second time a member of the Blue Jackets’ organization was not welcome around the team due to being unvaccinated. Former assistant coach Sylvain Lefebvre refused to get vaccinated and was fired by the team as a result.
The Blue Jackets clearly aren’t messing around. They’ve made their stance loud and clear. If you are unvaccinated, you are not welcome to be around the team. Davidson said that this comes down to team.
“We’re going to have 67 players come into camp and they’re all fully vaccinated, which is really important,” Davidson said Tuesday. “It’s a really important issue for us. It’s a team-first issue. We win as a team and lose as a team. Everything we do, we do together as a team. As we continue to navigate the Covid-19 it’s just no different. We have to do what we have to do.”
“Forward Zac Rinaldo whom we signed to a two-way contract this summer is not vaccinated. Because of that and that’s his decision, the plan is to start him in the American Hockey League and he will not be coming to our Training Camp.”
GM Jarmo Kekalainen added that the ball is in Rinaldo’s court as to what happens next.
“I think the ball is in his court right now,” Kekalainen said. As JD mentioned, we do everything as a team, and that’s the requirement for being a Blue Jacket. We’re going with the group we have here which is 100% vaccinated and we’ll see how it develops.”
It does appear that the NHLPA is reviewing the Rinaldo situation since he has been banned from NHL Training Camp. This is according to Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch.
Told NHLPA is reviewing the #CBJ and Rinaldo situation.
— Brian Hedger (@BrianHedger) September 21, 2021
Rinaldo signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract Aug. 13 and has not been assigned to the AHL's Cleveland Monsters yet.
If he were to clear waivers, they could assign him to CLE & he'd have to wait for AHL practices.
Where this all goes remains to be seen. But what is clear is that the Blue Jackets have made a stand against the unvaccinated. The line in the sand has been drawn and there doesn’t appear to be any exceptions from their point of view.
Here are other takeaways from Tuesday’s Media Day.
On Wednesday, players will go through physicals and testing. Then Thursday, they will have their first on-ice sessions. Their first preseason game is Monday Sept 27 in Pittsburgh.
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