Caps forward Quintin Laing has been diagnosed with swine flu, according to team officials. Laing was sent home from Tuesday’s morning skate and did not play against Philadelphia last night. He will not travel with the team to Atlanta for Thursday night’s game and is being isolated from his wife, Aimee, and his two young boys.
Laing was tested for the seasonal flu and that turned out negative. But because he still showed three of the four most common symptoms doctors consider him positive for the H1N1 virus. Laing will stay away from the team until he’s deemed symptom free. He is at least the third NHL player so diagnosed, according to Caps officials.
Laing just can’t catch a break. The fourth-line grinder, a career minor leaguer, would have played for Washington in the playoffs last spring except his first game up with the team on March 19 he suffered a torn spleen after blocking a shot.
The most concerned guy on the team now would be defenseman Tyler Sloan, who was Laing’s roomate on the recent road trip to Atlanta and New York. So far, though, Sloan isn’t symptomatic.
“I’ve already been taking [Tamiflu] so we’re taking the right steps. I feel great,” Sloan said. “The [high] fever is the concern with the young and the old and Quintin has two young boys and his wife. So that’s been a much bigger concern for us. But I think everybody is aware now and everything is under control.”
