The NHL on Wednesday confirmed it has not guaranteed loosened virus protocols for players who are vaccinated after Vegas goaltender Robin Lehner ripped the league for what he said were unkept promises.

B次元官网网址淣obody from the league has communicated to any player or club that any of our COVID protocols would be B次元官网网址榬elaxedB次元官网网址� for any player once he is vaccinated,B次元官网网址� a league spokesman said.

The NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball have set vaccination thresholds to relax some protocols, such as mask-wearing and prohibition of outdoor dining, when a certain percentage of team personnel are fully inoculated against COVID-19. Those leagues have all teams currently playing in the U.S., where everyone 16 and older can get a vaccine. The NHL has seven teams in Canada, where eligibility B次元官网网址� the nation only recently moved to 40 and older in some jurisdictions B次元官网网址� and availability is not nearly as robust.

The NHL has only one player, TorontoB次元官网网址檚 Joe Thornton, over age 40 and playing in Canada, where 25% of people have received one dose and 2.5% are fully vaccinated, according to the Global Change Data Lab. In the U.S., roughly 40% have had one dose and 25% are fully vaccinated.

Lehner said the league showed players the NBAB次元官网网址檚 protocol plan and told them B次元官网网址�(when) X amount of players leaders in this team or leaders around the league takes this vaccine, a new set of rules are going to come out.B次元官网网址� He said he had calls with the league and NHL PlayersB次元官网网址� Association on Tuesday and found out nothing was changing.

B次元官网网址淭hey told me yesterday theyB次元官网网址檙e surveying all the teams to see who has taken the vaccine and who has not taken the vaccines and theyB次元官网网址檙e not going to change the rules for us as players until all the teams have a fair, have the vaccines at the same time, so itB次元官网网址檚 not a competitive edge,B次元官网网址� Lehner said during 10 minutes of unprompted comments on the subject. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檙e talking about competitive edge instead of human lives. Competitive edge, human lives. WeB次元官网网址檙e humans, too.B次元官网网址�

The league has not publicly announced any changes to its pandemic protocols, which limit where players, coaches and staff can go. LehnerB次元官网网址檚 comments concerned the mental health of himself and fellow players, a topic he has talked about often in recent years.

Lehner called the NHLB次元官网网址檚 situation B次元官网网址渢otally unacceptable.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淟ook at the NBA, NFL and the other leagues,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭heyB次元官网网址檝e already implemented these things. And now we are, we are vaccinated and weB次元官网网址檙e still going to be trapped in a prison.B次元官网网址�

Lehner apologized on Twitter for his use of the word B次元官网网址減risonB次元官网网址� but stood by his mental health concerns given the restrictive protocols.

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Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press

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