The Heart Of The Matter

Ladies and gentlemen, the man to the left wearing the Edmonton Oilers uniform is none other than Josh Archibald. Archibald was planning on skating for the Oilers this season, but I'm sure you heard that the Oilers told him to stay home after it was found that he was against getting a vaccination for COVID-19. Archibald's social media also reflected his anti-vaccine stance towards the rather effective and safe vaccines that have been into millions of people across the globe, but Archibald made his decision despite it being seemingly a poorly-informed decision.

Today, the consequences of that decision were revealed as Josh Archibald has been diagnosed with myocarditis he contracted an asymptomatic case of COVID-19 that initially went undetected over the summer. As such, Archibald is now on the injured list indefinitely as he looks to recover. With Archibald's diagnosis, that brings the number of players on the Oilers' payroll with myocarditis to two after goaltender Alex Stalock was diagnosed earlier in the year with the same issue following his bout with COVID-19.

While I do respect what people choose to put into their bodies, let's get right down to basics here: vaccines do work and do save lives while preventing viruses like COVID-19 from making people seriously ill. This is the whole point of a vaccine. It is not some invincibility cloak that will prevent vaccinated people from contracting the virus or feeling its effects. Instead, it's meant to reduce the severity of the infection and allow the human body to develop a resistance to the virus' effects long before one contracts the virus.

Dave Tippett's comments on Sunday sounded more like a public health press conference than an update on Archibald's status.

"He had a severe viral infection coming out of his quarantine," Tippett stated matter-of-factly. "What the tests showed is that at some point this summer he'd had COVID, and he tested positive for the antibodies. He has also been diagnosed with myocarditis."

The inflammation of the heart is something very serious for people who exert themselves as professional athletes do, so this is a serious problem that Archibald and Stalock face. There is no timetable for when the inflammation will subside - it's simply a wait-and-check game to ensure that the inflammation has gone down. Because there is no guarantee for the inflammation to subside, Archibald and Stalock may have career ending injuries that will never let them play the game again.

Remember that Archibald CHOSE that reality over getting vaccinated.

Think about that for a second: Archibald, 28, is in the prime of his career, and he CHOSE not to get vaccinated because of whatever crap he heard on the internet, potentially putting his career and all future earnings in the NHL at risk thanks to what COVID-19 did to his heart. He'll be forced to watch from home for the foreseeable future while his teammates play hockey, and his name will fade into oblivion as the risk for cardiac arrest due to myocarditis prevents him from working out and exerting himself to remain ready for NHL action.

Outside of Dr. Randy Gregg, who played with the Edmonton Oilers, and Dr. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who is an offensive lineman for the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, are there any other medical doctors who play professional sports? I can tell you who isn't a medical doctor because he never received a degree after spending only three seasons at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. That would be Josh Archibald.

I'm not here to criticize Josh for jumping to the AHL after three seasons playing for the Mavericks, though. He chose hockey as his profession, and that's entirely within his rights to do. And he seemed to be pretty decent at his chosen walk of life since he played the better part of the last three seasons with Arizona and Edmonton, but his choice of medical advice really needs a check-up because all of that could be gone now.

I'm not here to pile on Josh Archibald despite everything I've written to this point. I truly hope that he recovers from myocarditis, and he can continue his NHL career at some point, possibly winning a Stanley Cup or two after a long and successful career.

What I am here for, though, is to advocate that if you're still unsure about getting a vaccine, Josh Archibald's story provides a very real, very valid case for getting vaccinated. The vast majority of us aren't going to be NHL players in this lifetime, but we may want to chase our kids, go for a run, hike a mountain, ride a bike, or just play some sort of beer-league hockey. None of that would be possible if one was diagnosed with myocarditis, so don't put yourself into the risk category of having that symptom develop.

Be smart. Stop listening to false accounts and pseudo-science. Get vaccinated. Be safer from the potential side effects of a virus that doesn't care if you're an NHL player or a beer-league fourth-liner. You can't prevent myocarditis caused by COVID-19 if you don't have a resistance to the virus, so build your best defence now by getting vaccinated as soon as possible.

The heart of the matter is that when fighting a virus like COVID-19, the best offence is a good defence.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!