{"id":119056,"date":"2021-09-28T19:08:16","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T23:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=119056"},"modified":"2021-09-28T19:11:08","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T23:11:08","slug":"new-jersey-devils-mackenzie-blackwood-undecided-on-covid-vaccination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/09\/28\/new-jersey-devils-mackenzie-blackwood-undecided-on-covid-vaccination\/","title":{"rendered":"New Jersey Devils Mackenzie Blackwood Undecided on COVID Vaccination"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>New Jersey Devils goalie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/blackma01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mackenzie Blackwood<\/a> is currently unvaccinated against COVID-19. Blackwood said that he&#8217;s mulling over his decision. He wants &#8216;to check off a couple of boxes and not rush to do it&#8221; when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nhl\/story\/_\/id\/32300165\/new-jersey-devils-goaltender-mackenzie-blackwood-currently-unvaccinated-rule-out\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">he talked to the media<\/a>. He&#8217;s currently the only unvaccinated player on the team.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood of the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NJDevils?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NJDevils<\/a> explains his decision not to get a COVID vaccination, and what that could mean for his season and his relationship with teammates. &quot;I would never want to put them in a position to lose.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NHL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NHL<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>My story: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wTnu3DNETR\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/wTnu3DNETR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wyshynski\/status\/1442947842985771011?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 28, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Mackenzie Blackwood Currently Unvaccinated<\/h2>\n<p>Blackwood missed six games in January in NHL COVID-19 protocol and he could be ineligible to play in some games this season. The 24-year-old would miss nine games this season unless the Canadian government eases restrictions for unvaccinated players. New Jersey&#8217;s first game north of the border is Dec. 3 at the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/jets\/\" target=\"_self\">Winnipeg Jets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The Thunder Bay, Ontario native is one of eight goalies to play at least 82 games over the last two season. He finished with a 14-17-4 record, a 3.04 goals-against average, a .902 save percentage and one shutout in 35 starts last season. New Jersey took him in the second round, 42nd overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n<p>Teams are allowed to suspend players unvaccinated players if they can&#8217;t participate in club activities or play in games. The NHL estimates <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2021\/09\/16\/98-nhl-players-covid-vaccine\/\" target=\"_self\">approximately 98-percent<\/a> of its players will have been vaccinated before the season begins Oct. 12. Some notable unvaccinated players include <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/bertuty01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Bertuzzi<\/a> and <span class=\"css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/rinalza01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zac Rinaldo<\/a>. All three players have Todd Reynolds as their agent.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>What it Means<\/h3>\n<p>Devils coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/ruffli01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lindy Ruff<\/a> is going to take things one game at a time. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/bernijo01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jonathan Bernier<\/a> likely gets the start, but it could hurt the team if they don&#8217;t have Blackwood ready to go. The Devils may have to go out and get another goalie if this issue isn&#8217;t resolved. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/w\/wedgesc01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scott Wedgewood<\/a> is also on the roster, but the club might be hesitant to give him some starts.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that Blackwood has time to get his shot and be compliant before the trip to Canada. Having Blackwood miss games would be a big blow to a team looking to make a move in the Metropolitan Division.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"7uL77v0ASthgUHKZJUCRKg\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1232776522\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'7uL77v0ASthgUHKZJUCRKg',sig:'jJ7huxctUvq1_16FbuIJbEQbgDIH7yNuGyQQKrNR5hI=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1232776522',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Jersey Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood is currently unvaccinated against COVID-19. Blackwood said that he&#8217;s mulling over his decision. He wants &#8216;to check off a couple of boxes and not rush to do it&#8221; when he talked to the media. He&#8217;s currently the only unvaccinated player on the team. Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood of the @NJDevils [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":119058,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13,4547,34,4548],"tags":[4675,955,679,1986],"class_list":["post-119056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devils","category-hockey","category-news","category-nhl","tag-covid-19","tag-nhl-news","tag-tyler-bertuzzi","tag-zac-rinaldo"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}