Good evening, boneheads!
I’ve been pretty busy at work with new residents on board. It is usually busy for me, but this year it’s been extra busy because of the circumstances related to the pandemic.
But I’ve been trying to follow hockey as much as possible. The latest news is that the restart has been pushed back to July 13th, and that both sides are negotiating hard to make this thing work.
Thanks to Alex, there are some solid rumors of what the new CBA will look like. That’s a solid attempt to eliminate many issues related to league’s and players’ finances. I’m sure there is more to come. I expect Brooks to present his thoughts on what is knows thus far, most likely even tomorrow. Meantime, click here to read what Elliotte Friedman wrote about his knowledge of the negotiations.
On a different note, I noticed that we started flirting with politics a little bit again. You know how fast this goes south. I do not want to place this place on lockdown again. Please, you feel you need to talk politics, kindly wear a second mask 🙂
UPDATE (7/6): Nothing really new on the hockey front except this little blip from the post
UPDATE (7/7): Click here to see a preview of what the new CBA may look like.
UPDATE (7/9 ): Some key dates ( courtesy of Craig Custance from the Athletic )
- The first buy out period begins on the later of Sept. 25 or the beginning of the Stanley Cup Final.
- The last possible day for the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final will be Oct. 2.
- The 2020 NHL Draft will tentatively be held on Oct. 6. It’s also noted that the draft must follow the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final and precede free agency.
- Free agency starts on the later of Oct. 9 or the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final plus seven days. There will no longer be an interview period, with the free-agent signing back to a noon start at the outset of free agency.
- Training camp for the 2020-21 season is tentatively scheduled to start on Nov. 17.
- The 2020-21 regular season is currently scheduled to start on Dec. 1, highlighting a much faster turn from the start of camp to the beginning of the season than in the typical year. Again, it’s worth noting, these dates are tentative. This is going to be a challenge to pull off.
- These dates are also all pending the approval of the NHLPA’s full membership, as well as the NHL’s Board of Governors, with the player vote expected to be announced on Friday.
169 responses to “Almost there!”
First.
NO SHMOLITICS!
Yeah… there’s just no way this is going to happen.
Multiple members of the St Louis Blues just tested positive and they’ve shut down their practices….
I want hockey as badly as you all do, but the risk to these players just isn’t worth it. Inevitably, someone will get very sick….
They tested positive but are they sick? If they are not sick, isn’t that a good thing?
Ilb —
Any clinical usage of ACE-inhibitors or AR blockers in treating Covid-19?
I know this is not a hockey question, but at least it’s not SCHMOLITICS!
Good morning, boneheads!
Happy Independence Day!
AA- last I checked on it, there were studies ( mostly retrospective) suggesting that continued use of ACE inhibitors and ARBs doesn’t make patients higher risk for severe COVID-19, some showed the risk is slightly lower, in fact. Not sure I’ve seen anything suggesting to treat Covid with these meds.
Kreider, Zibanejad, Buchnevich
Panarin, Strome, Fast (is prefer Gautier)
DiGuisepe, Chytil, Kakko
Lemieux (suspended for game one, idiot!), Howden/McKegg, Gautier.
CCCP – there can be up to two weeks before serious symptoms show up. Ilb might be able to comment on if the stress on body from working out and playing a pro sport like hockey, football, basketball could lead to worse outcome than if they are benched right away.
Does the provision for no cap penalty for players 35 or older who retire apply to Hank’s contract? Rangers need some cap relief or they are screwed until after next season. Either TDA or Strome would have to go.
Ilb
Thanks – that’s exactly what I’ve found in the literature.
I was wondering if anyone was favoring the use of RAAS inhibitors given the possibility of upregulating ACE2 receptors as HTN treatment in Covid 19 patients.
ORF – per CF, they have 17.4M available if they buyout HL. That needs to cover Strome, D’Anger, Georgie and Fast, Pepe Jr, Kegg and DiG (or their replacements). 5+4+2.5+6 = 17.5
ORF
the 35 and older provision was for when the contract was signed. henrik was less than 35 when he signed so if he walked from his contract voluntarily there would be no cap hit (or maybe a slight cap recapture – ILB could tell us on the recapture if it pertains)
Like the man says, sorry Oilers fans
https://mobile.twitter.com/jamescybulski/status/1279198119113093120
Since Rangers are law-enforcement, will Dolan and Buttman change their name?
cooscoos
take the name of the other hockey team from days of yore. ny americans?
Was the reason for the cap to defund the Rangers?
‘Americans,’ though an admirable sobriquet, would eventually be challenged as we move inexorably toward world government. They ever change the Rangers name, I’m gone.
There are 16 teams that are at or over the $81.5 million cap and some need LTIR to comply Another 5 or 6 are within $2 million of the cap. These teams will have a hard time staying the course let alone improving their rosters. Lots of good players will have to be dumped for them to be compliant. When hockey is eventually played it will be a mediocre product. Each team will have a few high priced players and the rest of the team will be fill ins.
ORF – This was, at one long ago time, a wild assertion, but it has come to fruition.
Alternate PC names for Rangers:
Roosters
Strangers
Inclusionists
The Big Tax Brackets
The Ice Wokes
So I am reading now that the cap is frozen at $81.5 million unit revenues reach $4.8 billion. So if UFA want salary increases they will all move to the few teams that have cap space. That should help the Devils.
The CBA extension will be for 6 years so no lockouts for a while unless the NHLPA opts out.
How about the NY Bankers for a name since that what fills up a lot of the high end seats at MSG?
Captain Libor Hajek come and get the Covid Cup!
He’s fine. I just think that’s what they’ll call this years Cup
Nonbinary Covid Wokeness Cup.
Tough crowd…
This kid was pretty good once upon a time…
Watching the games from years ago on MSG during the “pause” I have come to appreciate again just how good he was back then. But you also see the saves he doesn’t make anymore. No one beats Father Time. Shesty has some awfully big skates to fill.
Anyone here ever serve in the US Military, where a skater is a shirking slacker?
No Coos but I knew a hooker once named Minny Miezola.
James you only knew her once? Come on, tell the truth 😉
I think he played left field for Minnesota James,
Good morning, boneheads!
Nothing really new around the hockey, just a small article from the post. I updated it above.
A week from now, if everything goes as planned, we should be entering Phase 3, also known the start of training camp.
Once we have more details about the new CBA, we will be discussing it in details.
LOL Beezle
Set phasers to stun
Breakdown on Return to Play – Phase 3 and 4 tentative agreement (pending Board if Governors and NHLPA ratification), per Bob McKenzie, Elliotte Friedman, Pierre LeBrun and Frank Seravalli.
In the Bubble:
Each team can bring up to 52 individuals inside the secure zone, including ownership, players, coaches, executives and staff. Up to 31 of those people can be players, along with at least one physician, one security representative, one club Phase 4 compliance officer, and one social media member.
Bubble life will be highly contained, nobody will be allowed in or out of the bubble during the duration of the tournament. Every player will have their own individual hotel room. Players will not be allowed in each other’s rooms.
Hotel restaurants and bars will be open for everyone in the bubble and closed to everyone outside the bubble. Hotel pools and fitness centres will also be open to the players as well as a meeting area for each team. Social distancing rules must be followed in these common areas.
NHL teams will be provided with social getaways inside and outside the bubble, i.e. golf, with transportation provided by the league and the entire facility closed to anyone outside the bubble.
Masks will be mandatory for every individual outside of their individual hotel rooms. Masks may be removed during work outs, ice time, and while eating or drinking.
Coaches, officials and media members are not required to wear masks in the rink during games.
Teams from the US will be quarantined within the bubble upon arrival and will be limited to social interaction within their own team.
Players wives/girlfriends and children will be allowed to join the bubble during the Conference Finals, limiting time away from families to a maximum of 5 weeks.
While players are away from home the NHL will provide grocery delivery and errand delivery services for the players families.
Any team that violates any protocol is subject to “significant penalties, potentially including fines and/or loss of draft picks.”
Every player will will be given the ability to opt-out of playing, without penalty, from the date of ratification to the date training camp opens (July 13th).
COVID-19 testing:
Every person will be tested 3 times in the week leading up to them arriving in the bubble, in 48 hour intervals.
Every person inside the bubble will be tested daily via nasal swab, also administered temperature checks and symptom screenings. Including all all players, staff, officials, arena ice crew, security, hotel bartenders, food service staff, arena food and beverage staff, hotel housekeeping, hotel kitchen and food prep staff, and bus drivers. This will include upwards of 2,000 tests per day.
Anyone testing positive will be immediately isolated. Asymptomatic players will be allowed to return to the club following two negative tests in a 48 hour period or ten days in isolation.
Symptomatic players will be required to isolate for the full 10 days and not show any symptoms whatsoever for a 72 hour period.
Any player who was within 6-feet of a player testing positive for 15 minutes or more in the 48 hours before the positive test will be required to be tested immediately.
Players returning from isolation are asked to refrain from exercising for 14-days and will be required to received an ECG, echocardiogram and high-sensitivity troponin.
Any player who refuses testing will not be allowed to participate.
Right to Cancel:
At any point both the NHL and the NHLPA have the right to postpone, delay, move or cancel any games in the name of either safety or integrity of the competition.
The NHLPA also has the right to contest any ruling made by the NHL commissioners office.
Cleaning:
Every players hotel room will be cleaned every 3 days.
Between every period during games, each bench area must be disinfected, including flooring, bench surface, top of dasher board and water bottle area. Vertical dividers will separate each players’ water bottle. All locker rooms, team spaces and event floor areas will also be disinfected daily.
Source: Complete Hockey News.
Players can’t go to each others’ rooms but can congregate at the hotel bar
“They can’t make me test man! I’m not the government’s errand boy, man! Free Hewie man! Big brother aint comin’ to study my brain man!”
“uhh..okay let’s call him a game time decision with upper body injury”…
Rob there’s a Kevin Stevens joke in there somewhere but I don’t have the heart.
Every players hotel room will be cleaned every 3 days
…Jesus. How often did they clean it pre pandemic?! Then you wonder why every team shares the flu
Contracts….
2,000+ tests per day!? I hope it doesn’t interfere with a local test availability.
I don’t if any of you also watched, but they had an October 1991 Rangers game – Messier 2 assists at MSG on MSG last night.
What really stood out was Messier’s hustle and nifty passing, Leetch’s legs and vision, as well as Tony Amonte, who could just fly and had some incredible hands.
Also apparent was the sloppy defense – unacceptable by today’s standards, but more commonplace back then.
I also noticed that there was less clutching and grabbing going on — perhaps the clutching and grabbing didn’t become popular until the Devils rose to prominence by mid-decade?
The game also made me wonder as to what a shame it was that the 91-92 President’s Trophy Rangers couldn’t get past the 87-point Penguins. That Rangers team had a very nice lineup!
They started talking about bringing sports back again in May/June when cases were declining nationally and the overall mood was more optimistic. The Nationals and Astros just shut down their training camps and players are openly talking about whether or not they should be playing. I hope they pull this all off but it all feels precarious right now.
“I fear for the safety of myself, my family and my teammates…So I’m going to need an extra 10 million to play”
Same here, Rob. Can’t explain why, but it feels like a well designed house of cards.
The suspension of camp by Nats and “Asterisks” are due to test results LATE in returning, and not due to any new positive cases. Just teams trying to be proactive and safe.
The situation is certainly a house of cards. It should be a reminder that the situation remains serious, and to appreciate how hard we have worked and are working to flatten the curve.
The Covid Avery Rule : Players will not be allowed to face one another or harass one another except from a safe distance, while in motion, and briefly. Faceoffs will be effectuated with all skaters on ice facing away from one another.
Was when teams were quietly advised to avoid marital coitus during Playoffs. Now, they fly the wives in for you.
This is stoopid!!
What’s stupid, Wick?
Ilb
Not starting next season on time and trying to finish this one, baseball existing, corona Virus, rioting, statue toppling, corona beer, not wearing a mask if mandated, politics, religion, IPA’s, people apologizing for things that happened 150 years before they were born, people griping about other people when their own group is a total cluster phock, hot weather, jeans that look like chandeliers….I can go on
” jeans that look like chandeliers” LMAO!
Sounds reasonable, Wick
I’m with you 100%, Wicky (aka The Wick)
I’m offended by Wickys post and think he should apologize!!!!
🤷🏻♂️
Lmao jeans that look like chandeliers? I really need to come visit .
Wicky, btw, mrs is booking Montana for next March tomorrow. I told her she may do 2025 as well.
Dear ilb; When you get to Montana;make sure you visit Livingston and be sure to check out Paradise Valley. One visit and you;ll know where the name came from. Beyond beautiful. As for hockey, I really don’t think they will be able to play. I could be wrong but I think by the end of this month all sports will be canceled. I hope not. I could use some new hockey and football.
James
You do
Ilb
Hell yes!!!!
lets play some hockey!
Let’s see what happens when everyone gets to training camp with no bubble. If they can get through that maybe they have a shot at playing some games. It’s no better than 50/50 though. BTW if they don’t play does the CBA extension still apply for next season and beyond or does the whole thing crash?
ORF sometimes the glass is half full!
Wick if we’re coming there’s going to be three of us now. And J >:)
Good morning, boneheads!
I just updated this post for a preview of what the new CBA may look like. Apparently it should be finalized by the end of this week.
There are a few interesting points to it that we will discuss in the future, but I want to single out one of them today. And that is the change in cap recapture penalty. Just goes to show how stubborn the league is. They lost a lot of leverage, but Bettman would not budge on this dumb rule that was created to punish teams that used a loophole in the old CBA to sign players to perfectly legal contracts. Even though Bettman agreed to cap this penalty to player’s yearly salary, a team still has to pay the full penalty amount, except it’s extended over few years. Another thing, Hank is not on that list.
James
Woo hoo!!! Congrats!!! All doing ok?
LOL cmon man did you get a text? he’s not here yet! But unless we are coming there in the next week there will be three of us lol
Lol, I wanted to see a thread full of congrats
And lol
LGR !!!!!
Wicky I think it is high time that we lay blame where blame is due – on CCCP for this freaking hot and humid weather.
By this weekend, Burlington will have had 10 days over 90 and 22 over 85. WTF?!? At least I’m in the mountains and get a discount of 3-5 degrees but as you well know, anything over 70 is excessively warm.
The sad thing is, it is cooler in NYC where he wants the heat so he can enjoy the sights at the beach.
This is gold! Don’t be talking sh*t about Hajek or his agent will get you!
https://i.ibb.co/N1J8NYH/walsh.jpg
This Herman character is a d-bag king lol
Just received notice that one of the podcasts I listen to (Infamous America) newest season starts tomorrow. I let out a loud Yes! I think I miss sports.
You two cave men whine more than that sensitive caveman from the geico commercials. Get some vitamin D and even out those farmers tans!
James I do go out in the sun so no farmers tan, just don’t like sweating! Most people up here don’t have a/c as normally its in the low 50s at night, 70s day.
BTW – its 89 in Toronto, 90 in Montreal. Good luck with that ice.
I used to follow Herman on Twitter but the combination of weak hockey takes and constant woke political opinions caused me to move on from him.
I love it when sports writers shove political opinions in their sports-writing.
Not!
Beez- I hear that. We rented a cabin up in Maine a few years back in the height of summer and basically shut the ac every night once the sun went down. Slept with the windows open. If I tried that at home it would be 77 in my bedroom even if it were 65 overnight. Wicky can convert all of those numbers to Celsius for you because I don’t feel like doing it lol.
AA, My new line when people ask me “what do you think of all this” is “I’m a health care worker. I can only see it from that perspective. Don’t care about the politics involved”….It makes people despise me. (as if I couldn’t accomplish that without talking/not talking about politics!)
James your cabin had ac? That’s pretty high end. Did you meet any moose?
Celsius is European, Swedish at that. I prefer Kelvin for those needing a non-US centric measurement.
Place was about 600 sq ft with one walmart quality window unit. Wouldn’t call it high end but it got the job done.
Only moose on the trip was my fat beagle who got into the garbage while we were out and ate the bones to six chicken drumsticks. Nothing like a $300 vet bill while you’re on vacation…
That $300 would have been $3000 in NJ!
No one wants to vacation in “New Covid” as they’re calling Jersey these days lol
I own Walmart Stock and would appreciate greatly you keeping negative remarks to yourself. 🙂
Scarsdale is now SARSdale
Sorry Coos! The country is doing “Really Good”. Especially Jersey : D
LMAO @ SARSdale. They should rename the train station down there.
Langes: “due to Covid-19 we will now have to over price our sandwiches.”
Saw NFL Commish in there last summer. Should have taken him io the ground. Azzwipe.
https://i.ibb.co/y47DJDQ/NFL.jpg
Coos, I was in their Bronxville location with Timothy Geithner one time.
I wanted to say “excuse me Mr Buckingham I am a huge fan of your music. Can I have your autograph on one of these singles they’re going to hand me back once I give them this 20 dollar bill for my sandwich?”
MSG is showing Jeff Tom’s hat trick against Boston in 2002. They are digging deep into the vault.
James? Ilb? Any sign of this in the US? Abstract and paper
Broken news…. Ivy League cancels all sports for the fall semester
James – It was in the Bronxville Lange’s that I was directly in line behind Goodell. Geithner lived in Larchmont and when called to Washington, put his house on the market and couldn’t find a buyer. That’s when I realize that he was educated beyond his intelligence. Goodell is a physical giant, Geithner a midget.
Word is Lindy Ruff is the new Devil coach, hahahahahahahaha.
Blackhawks adamantly refuse to change name. They have a new fan, albeit from a distance and secondary.
Hang on…so the devils are going to name Ruff their new coach? How does that work if we are “resuming the 19-20 season” for the playoffs?
An early Christmas present for Rangers fans from the Devils. Lindy Ruff to coach NJ Devils. Could they please take him now. Would help our defense foe cup run this year. Can the next coach please instruct players not to leave there feet in front of our goalie. This has been driving me crazy for years.
I don’t understand how they were even allowed to do interviews prior to season end and with personnel that are on playoff teams. Not that sad to see him go but you don’t like to have changes like that going into playoffs.
I assume he will stay with the Rangers until they are eliminated. Like the college assistants who stay past for the bowl game.
https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/29431331/nhl-targeting-dec-1-start-2020-21-season
key dates
My Grandmother’s oldest brother died from influenza in France while serving in the Army during WWI. an estimated 50 million people world-wide died from the flu during 1917/1918
FIFTY MILLION DIED!
FIFTY MILLION!
Imagine the level of propaganda / fear mongering if CNN, MSNBC and the like were on the air back then.
Good morning, boneheads!
I just updated this post with some key dates relevant to this and next season, courtesy of Craig Custance from the Athletic. He also mentions a few CBA details that would only interest the CBA geeks (shuddup! 🙂 )
For anyone who is interested in it, here is the article in its entirety.
By the way, once the new CBA is ratified ( by tomorrow, I believe ), and available, we will be all over it 🙂
OMG! Ruff to the Devils?! I guess Jacques Lemaire turned down the opportunity! Hahaha
ENJOY LINDY, DEVILS FANS!
If that’s the case then triple Lindy should just stay home. JD and Quinn should figure out what their options are within the organization if there is one. That’s a conflict of interest IMO.
Papa Bear may be on his way to Target to knock a mofo out. lol
Worst possible scenario. After first round multiple players/staff on a handful of teams test positive and the second round never happens…
In the 1960s my mother attended the funeral for her great uncle. He survived the deaths of his wife and all 3 of his daughters to the Spanish flu, and lived another 40 years after that. I think about him and what his life must have been like a lot.
Personally, I’d rather imagine what the present day would be like without the sensationalized and vile media/social media rather than imagining what it would have been like back then with it.
Crack of Noon!
@NYP_Brooksie
Hartford assistant coach Gord Murphy will join NYR for tournament, temporarily filling vacancy left by Ruff’s departure.
Fire Murphy!
Can somebody tell me what Murphy even does?
LOL Rob! I miss hockey!
Does Ruff get his name on the Cup?
Do the Ranger have the balls to hire a TRUE Defensive Defensive Coach? Doubt it. And even if they did, they’d do everything they could to change his methods.
The Grand Coulee must be one BIG ASS Dam!
Frankly, Aswan, I don’t give a Dam.
Clark’s childhood home – House of the Seven Gables.
Is this the same Murphy, whose Law is saying, that if something bad should happened, it will most definitely happened and in a worse possible way? Hope, it’s not about our defense.
AHHH RUFF. Just the way your motha likes it Tribek!
as long as its not Phil Murphy
Good luck to Lindy…thought he got a bit of a rough ride considering the the number of young d-men he was coaching…they got better as season progressed ..PK was pretty good too
Wish Ruff the best but there was no way they could go forward and have him as a coach in these playoffs after the Devils making that announcement.
It certainly would have been awkward. But Keenam was negotiating with other teams during the playoffs in 94. I can’t believe no one knew about it.
So what if the Rangers beat the Canes in the play in series, but, they shut down the playoffs after that because of the ‘rona. Do they get one of the eight second round lottery slots?
ORF – they get the mass hysteria multiball!
I asked my dog which coach just left the Rangers. He got it right on the first guess.
Lindy ruff wasn’t the problem with the rangers D. Everyone was saying the same thing about the rangers D during the AV tenure and the 2 different D coaches prior to ruff.
It was personnel.
Or was it personal… can never tell for sure when Sam says it on the broadcast 😉
Allow me to disagree. Yes, there were 2 good and qualified D coaches before Ruff, but they failed to effectuate defense. Ruff the same. All emphasis is on the O. Perhaps not their fault, yes, but if so, they didn’t have the courage of their convictions. And when the Curl from Boston was hired, Ruff (who thought he was in line) quietly put his feelers out. Why make 200-300 grand when you can make millions?
My dog said (Babe) Ruth…
Was speaking with Texas friend about the corona and how that idea of heat killing it went out the window after Arizona… Holy frying eggs on the hood Batman! I’m sure someone here from Phoenix will claim ‘its a dry heat’ but omg a low of 87 is all you have to look forward to?
Fri Partly cloudy 112°/90° Sat Partly cloudy 116°/91° Sun Partly cloudy 117°/91° Mon Partly cloudy 114°/89°
Tue Mostly sunny 111°/88° Wed Partly cloudy 110°/87° Thu Partly cloudy 109°/87°
Often, I can’t tell weather or knot.
I read that the Devils were after Laviolette and when they couldn’t close the deal went for Ruff.
All in favor of Girardi as defense coach say “fracture”
All opposed ? “Poke check”
I’ll take Wickys personnel comment and elaborate because I’m better than him at ranting.
To review: The post Torts era saw the decline of any kind of testicular capabilities. Year after year they got weaker and smaller and while guys like Beuk and Ulfie and yes- Ruff were “not doing a good enough job” they were trying to mold a pack of clitorises (only ILB will know if that’s the correct pluralization) into something balls.
My hope is that with JD here the long term plan for defense will never again become to focus solely on puck movers skaters and guys who don’t want to or don’t know how to play physical in their zone.
Most infuriating comment for a hockey purist to hear: “Well the way he defends is by having the puck and creating offense”
And thus I don’t give two bowel movements about how many secondary assists and power play points guys like Pionk and Shattenkirk or anyone else Put up on their offensively stacked teams.
Just as I said up until March give this team 2 more Lindgrens and they’ll be in good shape.
ORF, the question I would ask that second rate organization as a Debbies fan Would be “well why could t you close the deal?”
Ruff will be a decent head coach But for all his experience is quite average for his career.
Lavi is Lavi.
all for Girardi ….his podcasts indicate he may want to coach in future but his kids are still young
Bobby he’s said publicly that he’s very happy spending time with his family and catching up for lost time.
Not surprising. You forget he’s still only 36. Would love to have him back in the organization though.
I have no issues with Gord Murphy. Yet lol
Post has a new article about the Rangers’ 3rd string goalie returning to practice.
Wade Redden for defense coach!
Are they still paying Redden?
Redden had same agent as Bonilla
Finally! A worthy candidate!
I’m voting for Kanye
“Kanye West, one of the most powerful humans.” -Kanye West
speaking of dogs
“does your dog bite”
then there’s
what’s the top of a house called
roof
what’s the outside of a tree called
bark
what part of a golf course do you not want to hit the ball
rough
(or is it watta)
who was best player in baseball history
ruth
(or gehrig?)
I miss the Inspector.
Dog on corner, licking his huevos. Two guys walk by.
One says, ‘Man, I wish I could do that.’
Second guy: ‘You probably could, That dog doesn’t look like he bites.’
loved the Inspector!
Coos……hahaha. I needed that. And now I know a new word for ballsca well huevos. It’s important to learn something new every day.
Other than our match up, I’m looking forward to Habs vs Pen()s and Hawks vs Oilers.
China helping the WHO investigate the origins of the coronavirus reminds me of when O.J Simpson was helping find his wife’s killer.
GREAT CROWD!
Anyone else besides myself feel this whole playoff tourney is just… for lack of a better way to put it… wrong? Not BC I feel like the expansion to allow bubble teams in cheapens it…. that I don’t so much care about. My feeling is, without fans… it flat out zaps the energy out of electric playoff hockey. So what…. after a goal, you’ll hear a whistle and maybe a siren? It’ll sound like a scrimmage.
But it goes beyond that. What were about to witness on the ice only further confirms the reality we’re all in… it’s like the equivalent of going out to a restaurant now- the whole purpose is to enjoy the food, the ambiance and be care free! Doing that in the midst of a pandemic is not only NOT care free but it’s risky. I feel the same about these players. I feel like inevitably, someone is going to test positive AFTER making it to the bubble and it’ll rip through an entire team…. maybe even several since they’ll be playing against one another.
In conclusion… I LOVE this sport. I LOVE our team. But, this whole thing feels wrong, and unnecessarily risky.
OJ spent years searching sand traps around the world for the killer.
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