The veteran defender had taken an unpaid leave of absence, but informed the organization on Monday.
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Travis Hamonic is present and accounted for.
The Vancouver Canucks defender skated alone Wednesday morning at the Abbotsford Center, before full practice for the Abbotsford Canucks, Vancouver’s AHL farm team.
It was the veteran defender’s first ice appearance in BC since the end of the 2020-21 season, after he missed the entire preseason and then the first two weeks of the NHL season.
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Hamonic, who did not speak to the media after Wednesday’s skating, had been out of the team for “personal reasons,” the team said. Postmedia confirmed on numerous occasions that these reasons were related to the vaccination protocols against COVID-19.
With the AHL following protocols similar to the NHL and with the Canucks uninterested in jumping the hurdles that would involve having an unvaccinated player on the roster, such as the Detroit Red Wings and Tyler Bertuzzi, the NHL’s only unvaccinated player, a Player must be fully vaccinated to be on Abbotsford’s list.
Hamonic approved the waivers before the NHL season started earlier this month, so he can stay with Abbotsford indefinitely, although he is expected to join the NHL club once he’s ready to play.
This summer, he signed a two-year, $ 6 million deal.
More to come …
Reference-theprovince.com