MONTREAL (AP) — The status of Canada defenseman Cale Makar is cloudy after he missed his team’s 4 Nations Face-Off game against the United States on Saturday night because of illness.
Coach Jon Cooper said after his team’s 3-1 loss that Makar was close to playing. Cooper did not have a good idea of whether Makar will be able to play against Finland in Boston on Monday afternoon.
‘I can’t say what the outlook is right now," Cooper said. “Ultimately the decision was made for him not to play. And those decisions are made for the benefit of the player. Everybody wants to play and contribute and do all these things. And trust me, he’s the one that wants to do it the most. But it wasn’t tonight, and so we’ll see. Hopefully, Monday. But there’s no determination on that yet.”
Thomas Harley of the Dallas Stars replaced Makar in the lineup after being added to the roster given the illness and a tournament-ending injury to Shea Theodore that occurred in the opener Wednesday night against Sweden.
Makar, the 2022 Norris Trophy winner and playoff MVP that year when he helped Colorado win the Stanley Cup, was considered a game-time decision after missing practice Friday because of an illness. Cooper stopped short of saying he expected Makar to play.
Without him Canada was without three of its top six defensemen, including Alex Pietrangelo, who withdrew prior to the tournament to tend to what the Vegas Golden Knights called an “ailment” and to focus on the rest of the NHL season.
Missing them, Harley skated just over 18 minutes and Philadelphia's Travis Sanheim 15:14 as Cooper was forced to rejigger his defensive pairs.
The league and NHL Players’ Association agreed to let Canada make a substitution rather than play one defenseman short with an extra forward. Initial rules for the 4 Nations indicated each team was only allowed to add a player if it has fewer than 18 healthy skaters, regardless of position.
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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press
