A leaf falls to Covid -19

Sorry Leaf fans, the news is not good.

Maple Leafs superstar Auston Matthews has tested positive for the coronavirus COVID-19, two National Hockey League sources outside Toronto have confirmed to the Toronto Sun.

Matthews, 22, has apparently gone into quarantine at his home in Arizona, hoping to be healthy enough and eligible to travel to Toronto and participate in the opening of Leafs camp on July 10.

Maple Leafs goaltender Frederik Andersen, who was spending much of the break from NHL play with Matthews’ at his Scottsdale home, did not test positive for COVID-19, the same sources indicate. Andersen is no longer living with Matthews – and is no longer in Arizona.

To date, the Maple Leafs have not commented on Matthews’ status and may have some kind of response later today or tomorrow. Apparently, the Leafs were seeking more “clarity” on the private matter before considering releasing a statement of any kind.

“There’s no blueprint for this,” one source said. “This is not an ankle injury.”

Matthews was not available for comment Friday and his agent, Judd Moldaver, did not return messages left by the Sun. Andersen was not available for comment but a source close to the goaltender confirmed he had not tested positive.

Matthews, who is in the first year of a five-year $58 million deal with the Leafs, is by no means alone in contracting the virus in Arizona, where cases have spiked in recent days. According to sources, a numbers of unidentified Arizona Coyotes players, who were training alongside Matthews, also tested positive recently. Players on other NHL teams have tested positive over the past few months. None have been identified publicly.

The breaking news of the positive test of the 47-goal scorer on his way to 50 before the regular season was called off, comes in the wake of the Tampa Bay Lightning closing its practice facilities and at about the same time the Philadelphia Phillies have had an outbreak of COVID-19 in their Florida training facility.

Matthews is alongside Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys as the highest profile professional athletes in North America known to test positive for COVID-19. Former NBA star Patrick Ewing has tested positive, as well, as has current NBA coach Mike Malone with the Denver Nuggets.

Eugene, what did you step in ??

Eugene Melnyk is stepping in manure, at every step he takes. Every single step.

He makes it worse by picking fights with his own organisation's Charitable Foundation, also at a time when there's no hockey , a global pandemic, and literally no sports on to watch. It's like a "look at me moment" in the making.

Eugene Melnyk's charity previously directed a small fraction of the money it generated toward its intended cause.

The Ottawa Senators owner created  The Organ Project - a private, Toronto-based not-for-profit foundation - in 2016, with the goal of ending the organ transplant waiting list and "changing the current environment so that, in the near future, nobody in Canada will die while waiting for an organ transplant."

However, while it gained $991,708 in revenues during 2018, it contributed barely $5,000 of that to organ donor awareness, according to Richard Gibbons, who cited filings from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Melnyk's charity is separate from the Senators Foundation - the team's charitable arm - which announced its intent to sever ties with the club last week.

The Senators Foundation donated $100,000 to The Organ Project at a charity gala in 2018.

Of the roughly $1 million taken in by Melnyk's charity, it spent $779,464 on fundraising costs and another $238,118 on management and administration, according to the filings obtained by Gibbons, who was informed that these types of figures are "almost certain" to be scrutinized by tax officials.

Unlike the Senators Foundation, the Organ Project doesn't require a board of directors to oversee operations, and according to Gibbons, the latter entity appeared to be directed solely by Melnyk. However, it shut down in 2019 and didn't fulfill a promise to reopen this spring.

The Senators and their foundation will formally part ways if they're unable to resolve their dispute by July 31.

In the meantime, Melnyk has 2 picks in the first 6 of the upcoming NHL draft, let's see if he's going to step in manure again.