Hey, This Line Was No Cuts...

((HT: TSN))

Unless, of course, you're a professional athlete...

A health employee who let the Calgary Flames jump in line for a swine flu shot was fired Wednesday as the controversy over preferential treatment to celebrity athletes spread to the Flames' farm team and beyond, including members of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"Like most Albertans, I am deeply offended that this circumstance has occurred," Ken Hughes, chairman of Alberta Health Services, said in a news release.

"(It) was a serious error in judgment."

Ya think...???

Hughes did not release the employee's name or discuss the circumstances that led to the firing, but said "an investigation is continuing and may result in further disciplinary action."

Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert said the firing sends the message that favoritism will not be tolerated.

"Nobody feels good about it," said Liepert. "I'm sure if they could rewind the clock that all of them would think differently."

Flames President Ken King is catching the appropriate amount of hell over it...
((HT: Calgary Herald))


But it doesn't end there... the Flames AHL affiliate in British Columbia got a batch of the vaccine- jumping the line...

Team president Tom Mauthe said the shots were given after most of the players fell ill on a recent road trip. They went to a public clinic for shots, he said.

"At no time did anyone from the Abbotsford Heat receive preferential treatment nor did they jump a queue," said Mauthe.

But B.C.'s medical health officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, said rules were broken.

Provincial guidelines clearly state the vaccine is to be offered first to high-risk groups including people under 65 with a chronic condition, children between six months and five years and pregnant women, he said.

"There has been no authorization given by me or any of British Columbia's medical officers or health authorities for any sports team to receive early access to the H1N1 vaccine," Kendall said.

"That was clearly outside the province's guidelines for the publicly funded vaccine program."

Here's Kelly Sinoski's story from the Vancouver Sun

CBC's Eric Rankin caught up with the Heat in Abbotsford