While the debate rages over whether anyone in the NHL should have to take the COVID-19 vaccine in order to keep their job, Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen is making one thing very clear in the situation with former assistant coach Sylvain Lefebvre: he did not quit, he was fired.
Lefebvre, who had just joined the Blue Jackets coaching staff over the summer, refused to take the vaccine and several reports said he had re-signed over it. Kekalainen clarified the situation later on Monday saying Lefebvre was let go.
"We had to part ways with him because he couldn't do his job. We need a coach," Kekalainen said. "If you're not vaccinated, you're not allowed within 12 feet of the players. You can't do your job as a coach. He couldn't be in the locker room, couldn't be in the coaches' room, couldn't be on the bench, couldn't be on the plane with uswe need a coach."
The Athletic reached out to Lefebvre to inquire about his refusal to take the vaccine, but he did not return their calls. Meanwhile, Kekalainen was asked if a player's refusal to get the vaccine could factor into roster decisions for the team.
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"Yes. I think it would, yeah," he said, after a pause.
Lefebvre is being replaced by Steve McCarthy of the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate. He is not the first member of an NHL coaching staff to lose their job over the refusal to get the vaccine. San Jose Sharks assistant Rocky Thompson stepped down from his position earlier this month. In a statement from the team. Thompson said he had a medical exemption, but refused to say what that was. The NHL's vaccine policy does allow for anyone to be exempt from taking the vaccine for medical reasons.
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