Disaster has struck the USA camp just over 24 hours before the 4 Nations Face-Off final showdown against Canada.
The Americans are set to clash with Canada once again Thursday in a rematch of their violent group-stage bust up with the inaugural title of the international tournament on the line.
However, Team USA has been rocked by a sickness bug with coach Mike Sullivan forced to look to bring in reinforcements as the illness sweeps through the camp, according to Pierre LeBrun.
The news comes after the USA already lost Charlie McAvoy, who was reportedly sent to the hospital during his nation’s loss to Sweden Monday.
As of Wednesday the 27-year-old was reportedly still hospitalized with the Boston Bruins, his NHL team, ruling him out of Thursday’s game with an injury to his right shoulder.
It had been suggested that Quinn Hughes, captain of the Vancouver Canucks, was waiting in the wings with Sullivan himself telling reporters Tuesday that the defenseman was ‘coming.’
Team USA has reportedly been hit by illness just over 24 hours out from the 4 Nations final
Charlie McAvoy (left) had already been ruled out of Thursday’s clash with an injury
However, the saga took a wild twist when Hughes was spotted on the ice at Canucks practice in Vancouver on Tuesday afternoon.
Team USA was then informed Wednesday that the 25-year-old would not be making the cross-country trip across the border to Boston as he hadn’t been medically cleared.
The Norris Trophy winner, whose younger brother, New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes, has lined up for Team USA throughout the tournament, initially withdrew from the roster with an undisclosed injury. He has not played since January 31.
Heading into the much-anticipated rematch with Canada, Team USA also faces injury issues involving Matthew Tkachuk, Brady Tkachuk and captain Auston Matthews.
The Americans lost their final game of the round-robin stage against Sweden on Monday night after choosing to rest many of their starters.
Thursday night presents a high-stakes matchup between the two nations amid the backdrop of political tension – tensions that boiled over Saturday.
The sides came to blows at the Bell Centre in Montreal over the weekend with an astonishing three fights in the first nine seconds of the game.
The brawls, which featured both Tkachuk brothers, came after the Canadian-strong crown in Quebec furiously booed ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ in front of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau amid the ongoing tariff threats from President Donald Trump.
Canucks’ Quinn Hughes was named as a potential replacement but wasn’t medically cleared
Trump has also suggested the country could become America’s ’51st state’ and called Trudeau ‘governor’, prompting backlash from the longtime ally.
In response, USA stars have urged Trump to attend the final showdown at TD Garden in Boston.
Prior to Saturday, Canada and the United States hadn’t played a true ‘best-on-best’ match since the group stage at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey – which Canada won 4-2.
NHL players haven’t appeared at an Olympic games since 2014 in Sochi.
